NewDominion hires exec to help it grow in Gaston County

NewDominion Bank has hired its first-ever market executive for Gaston County, as the Charlotte-based lender pushes ahead with its strategy to become a dominant community bank in the metropolitan area.

NewDominion said this week it has hired longtime banker Dan Boyd for the market executive role. Boyd is expected to initially focus on small-business and affluent clients in Gaston County, then later oversee branches when those are added.

The move gives NewDominion, founded in 2005, a presence in a new market at a time when the bank’s growth remains constrained by a consent order state and federal regulators imposed in 2010 after the real estate bubble burst.

NewDominion has been working to satisfy the consent order, which it was placed under after large losses on development loans.

Last year, the bank raised more than $10 million to help meet the order’s requirement that it boost capital levels. NewDominion has said it needs about $10 million in additional capital to fully satisfy the order, which puts certain restrictions on the bank, such as how much loan growth it can have.

Before hiring Boyd, NewDominion did not have immediate plans for a market executive in Gaston County. The bank created the position because it didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to hire a banker of Boyd’s talent and experience, said NewDominion President Marc Bogan.

Boyd has more than 31 years of experience in banking, according to NewDominion. He most recently worked for Charlotte-based community lender Park Sterling Bank as its regional market president for Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland counties. He also was chief operating officer for Gastonia-based Citizens South Bank, which Park Sterling acquired in 2012.

Being in Gaston County gives NewDominion more balance and diversification in the Charlotte metro area and fits with the bank’s strategy to expand its presence in the region, Bogan said.

Boyd, who also will serve as NewDominion’s commercial relationship manager for Gaston County, will work from NewDominion’s headquarters in midtown Charlotte until the bank opens a loan production office in Gaston County in the second half of this year, Bogan said.

NewDominion is planning to expand to about 10 branches in the metro area, but has said it will need to raise more capital to fulfill those plans. It currently has two branches: one at its headquarters, the other in Iredell County.

Bogan said the bank’s goal is to have 1 percent to 2 percent market share in the Charlotte metro area, which would make it a $2 billion-asset bank.

The privately held bank currently has about $285 million in assets. Its market share in the metro area is 0.12percent, according to the latest federal data from June.