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Bill Blevins grabbed a notebook that a college student might bring to the first day of class.
But this one had a blue and gold sticker with the letters “GCBB” on it. And it’s already full of notes. The letters are Gulf Coast Business Bank, a new community bank serving Southwest Florida that celebrated its soft launch and grand opening Thursday, June 6, with balloons, food trucks and live music.
The bank bought an old, shuttered branch at 12205 Metro Parkway in Fort Myers for $1.1 million and renovated it before raising capital or filing for bankruptcy.
Blevins believed his time would come because of the team he had assembled. “I think what sets us apart is that everyone has a shareholder,” bank officials said. “We want anyone in our bank to make decisions as president. All they want to do is take care of you.”
Blevins said the plan is not to compete with credit unions or big banks. “Our forte business is focused on the customer,” he said.
“We want to be a connecting bank. In other words, we help bring businesses together in the marketplace. If you’re a general contractor or a painter, and we can bring two people together to help them with their business, that’s great. A lot of banks do that. Now that there’s a lot going on in the marketplace, We don’t see it.
Guy Paparella, chairman of the bank’s board of directors, said he jumped at the chance to help Blevins. “I think the thing that stood out to me the most was the love that Bill had,” he said. “You don’t feel the same when you walk into big banks. It’s nice to be able to walk in the door here at Gulf Coast Business Bank. You can see someone right away and get some answers.”
Blevins and his colleagues raised nearly $24 million in capital to get started. Since they bought an existing branch, the building came with a vault with a metal door that seemed to be about a foot thick. There was no money in it and a few safe deposit boxes. As Blevins explains, the industry has become a cashless environment as banks make money transfers electronically. It has also become a transitional environment with rising interest rates and inflation.
“Will the market go down as interest rates rise?” Blevins asked. “How sure. I think it’s going to be like 2008, ’09 and ’10? No, we haven’t built up excess supply. It’s probably more like 90 to 92. And maybe cooling the market a little bit wouldn’t be a bad thing. Control inflation. That’s what the Fed is trying to do. We understand.
The bank “focuses on dreams and goals,” which is the mantra displayed on a neon sign posted above bank counters.
As for that notebook, Blevins said he plans to share it with FGCU’s economics department one day.
“I bought a little composition book,” he said. “Put a small GCBB sticker on the front. And he maintained all the notes in the process of capital raising. Control process. Obviously, I’ve had a lot of things handed to me by our lawyers. But that’s kind of biblical for me.
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