About TriStar Bank

In April of 1999, following the sale of Peoples Bank to First American National Bank, Ted Williams and four other Peoples Bank Directors decided to charter a new bank in Dickson County. It was the first time in 47 years that a new bank had been chartered in the county. The four directors included Noah Daniel, Phil Hall, Jerry V. Smith and Melissa Street. Additionally, the group invited Tom Waychoff to join the group and be the bank’s sixth founder. These six individuals began preparing the necessary documents to gain approval from the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions to have a stock offering for what would become TriStar Bank. With the help of Attorney Brian Ragan, Attorney Katie Edge and CPA Steve Maggart, these organizers prepared documents to eventually gain approval to provide an offering circular to potential stockholders. Offering Circulars were made available on July 2, 1999, and in 67 days, the organizers had sold $7.5 million in TriStar Bank stock to begin the bank. In the fall of 1999, the organizers went through the bank application process with both the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions and successfully gained approval to open the bank. Sharon Ferrell joined the bank in November as the bank’s Senior Operations Officer. The first shareholders’ meeting was held on December 30, 1999, in the Performance Hall of the Renaissance Center.

 

The bank officially opened a modular branch on a 2.5- acre tract at 650 Highway 46 South. As an initial marketing strategy, the bank opened one second after midnight on January 1, 2000 and became the first bank to open its doors in the new millennium. The bank opened numerous accounts on that day, raising in excess of $1.0 million in deposits. The bank began that night with 12 employees and 6 directors. The bank saw substantial growth in the first year, capturing over $20.0 million in deposits. Additionally, the officers made over $20.0 million in loans during the same period. During that year, after his contractual obligations expired, Thomas Hayes joined the bank as an Executive Officer and Advisory Board Member. In October 2000, the bank opened its first subsidiary, Pioneer Title Company. Tom Hayes headed up this effort to broaden the service offering of TriStar Bank. In July, Becky Ragan was hired to oversee the Human Resources area of the bank and in the fall, Ann Petty was hired to offer mortgage loans.

 

In March of 2001, the second Shareholder’s Meeting was held at the bank’s new main office located at 719 East College Street, which was purchased in January 2001. 2001 was another year of good growth, with the bank growing to over $40.0 million in assets by the end of our second year. During the second year, the bank became profitable and had net income in excess of $143,000 for 2001. As 2001 came to a close, TriStar employed over 24 people and captured more than 6% of Dickson County’s total deposit market share.

 

2002 was another successful year for Dickson’s newest community bank. The bank grew to over $56.0 million in total assets and $36.0 million in total loans. Deposits and net profit after tax yielded of $600,000, a 1.04% return on assets. 2002 completed our de novo status as a new bank and annual visits from bank regulators. In the fourth quarter of 2002, the book value of TriStar Bank stock climbed above $10.00 for the first time. Small blocks of stock sold as high as $18.00 per share in December 2002.

2003 was a year for peaks and valleys for our bank. The trough of the valley was on July 17^th when Mr. Thomas Hayes passed away at his home from an apparent aneurism on his heart. Mr. Hayes had been a tremendous supporter and integral part of our bank as a founder. His sudden passing left many holes in the Dickson Community. The board and staff came together to overcome this tremendous challenge. The board elected Noah Daniel to serve as the Chairman of the Board and Ted Williams to serve as the bank’s CEO. Later in the year, Stuart Speyer was added as an advisory board member. The bank’s peaks came in December when the board declared its first cash dividend. The annual cash dividend was $.20 per share. The bank also captured over 10% of Dickson County’s deposit market share while earning a 1.10% on return assets. The bank ended the year with $68 million in total assets, growing over 20% during the year. TriStar became the fourth largest bank in the county in its deposit market share.

 

2004 was a year of rapid growth due to an acquisition of a branch in the Dickson market. On January 26, 2004, TriStar Bank entered into a purchase agreement with National Bank of Commerce, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, to purchase NBC’s branch in the Dickson Kroger grocery store. The branch added $12.5 million in deposits and $2.5 million in loans to TriStar’s holdings when the acquisition was completed on May 14, 2004. On June 30^th, TriStar became the third largest deposit holder in Dickson County, capturing 13.2% of the market. The bank ended the year with $86.0 million in total assets, earning over $710,000 in net income. Also, at the annual shareholders’ meeting, Stuart Speyer was elected as a member of the Board of Directors.

 

2005 was our sixth year of existence and a year the bank focused on profitability. After five years of strong growth, it became more important to shift the focus from growth to profitability. The bank achieved this goal by improving its Net Interest Margin and increasing service charges in early 2005. The bank worked all year on improving banker’s consultative selling skills. Donnie Wills led this effort by beginning the training program in November 2004 with three classes focused on Product Knowledge, Service Standards and Consultative Selling Skills. The bank grew to over $93.0 million in assets and earned over $845,000 in net income.

 

2006 was a year of growth. The bank’s total assets exceeded $100 million for the first time in its history. The bank celebrated this accomplishment with a “Thanks a $100 Million celebration” on May 20^th. Up and coming country star Chris Young and the local band “Bluegrass Overdrive” entertained the crowd before a fabulous fireworks show. The bank’s deposits grew to over $91million and total loans grew to over $76 million. Net Income exceeded $887,000, or a $1.10 EPS. The bank closed its only subsidiary (Pioneer Title) in July. The bank also formed a one bank holding company called “TriStar Bancshares, Inc.” A loan operations department was created on the third floor of the main office.

 

2007 set many new milestones for our bank. It was the first year our bank exceeded $1 million in net income after tax. In early 2007, the bank purchased a corner lot in Pomona to construct the Pomona Branch. It would host a new permanent location for our bank on Highway 46. Our operations area added eStatements to our internet banking product offering. The bank grew to exceed $116 million in total assets. The bank stock sold consistently for $22.00 per share. In March 2007, the bank paid a $0.35 per share annual cash dividend. The bank also began an Advisory Board with six members from the community, including: Wade Daniel, Linda Hayes, Rick Chandler, Wilson Overton, Dr. Venk Mani and Alan Ragan.

 

The year 2008 will always be remembered as a challenging year in our country’s economic history. The national economy became unraveled by a troublesome mortgage market. Bank closures throughout the country spiked for the first time in several years. No one seemed to be exempt from the pain of this challenging year. TriStar Bank had new challenges but performed very well despite this downturn. The bank purchased a restaurant in Charlotte and converted it into a full-service branch office. The bank grew to over $128 million in assets and earned over $900,000 after taxes. The holding company paid a $0.40 dividend in March 2008. The bank added Kevin Smith as an Advisory Board member.

 

2009 was our tenth year of service to the Dickson County community. Our year began with the sudden loss of Founder and Chairman, Noah Daniel. Noah was a tremendous supporter and leader from the beginning, both in our bank and in the community. His loss was felt throughout the bank and his leadership will be missed for years to come. Attorney Jerry V. Smith was elected to serve as the bank’s Chairman of the Board. The national economic conditions persisted, and the bank experienced its worst year of losses and asset quality problems. Despite unemployment hitting 12% in our country, the bank managed to continue with great growth in deposits and earnings. The strong foundation of prudent underwriting in our past has placed us in a performance category of the top ten banks in Tennessee. The bank earned over $1.3 million in after tax income and grew to $143 million in total assets.

 

Our eleventh year of progress found 2010 a tough economic year with unemployment very high in Dickson County, approximately 10%. This economic pressure on families and businesses in our community caused many challenges for our bank and our bankers. We weathered this storm reasonably well, but past due loans increased while the loan balances decreased. The shareholders approved Kevin Smith as our newest member of the Board of Directors. Our mortgage department under Ann Petty’s direction posted its best earning year in 10 years. The bank overall set a new net income achievement of $1.35 million. Loan growth was anemic but the bank did grow to $150 million in total assets. Deposits grew to $120 million. We spent the year celebrating our ten-year anniversary. The celebration culminated with a community event on 10/10/10 at the College Street office. The political elections of the year brought new faces in most of the county, state, and federal offices. The U.S. Congress passed a massive bank regulatory bill that would change banking forever.

 

The year 2011 included a continued challenge of a weak economy in Middle Tennessee. Loan growth became a huge challenge and, for the second year in a row, the bank had negative growth in the loan portfolio, ending the year at $84 million in loan balances. The bank built a new permanent branch facility in Pomona that replaced its temporary facility where the bank originally began at 650 Highway 46 South. The new facility was opened in November and, during the grand opening which was celebrated on December 9^th, the bank raised $2.0 million in new deposits. Home mortgage rates continued to be very low and the mortgage department had a very good year of production. We also began servicing Fannie Mae mortgage loans in-house, and the bank was servicing over 200 mortgages by year-end. The bank completed a compliance and CRA examination by the FDIC in October and an FDIC safety and soundness examination in November. Director and founder Phil Hall retired from the board.

 

2012 was filled with unique events. The first was the sad news that director and founder Tom Waychoff lost his fight with cancer. Tom had been a steady hand of leadership for the bank and a well-respected contributor to the betterment of Dickson in his lifetime. His early departure from this life was felt in the bank and community. The shareholders added three new directors to the holding company and bank board. Those added were Linda P. Hayes, D. Wilson Overton, and Brian Ragan. During the year, the bank sold its property and mobile branch on Highway 46 where the bank started in 2000. Also, the bank purchased two offices from Community South Bank, which were located in Columbia and Spring Hill. The acquisition grew the bank to over $220 million in total assets with six offices in three counties. Mike Greene joined the bank to lead the efforts in the Columbia market. The bank had its best profit year, earning over $1.6 million in net income or $1.77 earnings per share. The bank paid a second cash dividend of $0.48 per share in December. This dividend was for 2013 to help shareholders avoid an increase in taxes. The dividend was an early new year’s gift for all shareholders.

 

In 2013, the bank focused on organization and loan growth. Due to the resignation of three officers during the year, an inward focus on staffing occurred to propel our bank into the next level of performance. Jason Epley, Jeff Barber, and Robby Harmon were all hired to improve our lending and branch operations. Lisa James was hired to lead our mortgage department and Gary Davis, a 30-year mortgage veteran, was hired to assist her. The bank achieved solid growth in loans by purchasing about $15.0 million in loans from Berkshire Bank. General Paul Summers was invited to serve as an Advisory Board Member.

 

The bank completed its 15^th year of operation in 2014. Paul Summers was elected by the shareholders to serve on the holding company board of directors. It was an outstanding year for organic loan growth of $16.0 million, a 15% increase. The bank had great improvement of its net interest margin, moving it from 3.12% to 3.73%. Net income of $1.3 million was our 4^th best earning year in our history. We closed over $16.6 million in secondary market home loans. By the end of the year, we were servicing over $39.0 million in mortgages for Fannie Mae. In November, the bank broke ground on a new branch facility in Columbia, replacing the leased building on James Campbell Boulevard. Melissa Street retired from the bank as an executive officer but remained in service as a board member of the bank and holding company.

 

2015 brought several accomplishments to the bank. We grew our loan balances to over $158 million, an increase of $34.0 million or 28.88%. This shift in our balance sheet improved our earning potential with a 4.02% net interest margin (NIM). The bank opened a new 5,000 square foot facility in Columbia, Tennessee, and our Maury County presence continued to grow. The bank continued to grow its deposit base and achieved a high-water mark of $240 million in total assets. The bank’s net income achieved in excess of $1.5 million, our second-best year of earnings in our history. Earnings per share reached $1.60.

 

The 17^th year of operations witnessed our highest net income year in our history. The bank achieved a net income of $1.7 million and attained total assets of $250 million. The bank hired three commercial lenders to improve our commercial team, especially in Spring Hill and Columbia. Growth of loans and deposits were small, but the bank began improving efficiency and banking operations to improve profitability. The board held an entire day of strategic planning to learn ways to move our bank from good to great in the coming years. The bank’s leadership team experienced a paradigm shift to focus on improvement for the future, not just good past performance.

 

2017 was a year of transitions to focus on deposit growth rather than loan growth. Loan growth was the best we had experienced, and the need to change focus became evident through the year. Our net income was the best in our history as President Trump signed into law a corporate tax reduction that required a deferred tax asset write down of $325,000. Net income dropped to $1.5 million, 3^rd best since the year 2000. The local economic conditions heated up beyond the best in history. Unemployment in Tennessee was less than 3% and growth continued in the area. Nationally, the stock market achieved new historical highs, with many wins in the free enterprise market. The bank had good growth in the year, achieving $272 million in total assets. Loans exceeded projections, surpassing $199 million in total loans.

 

Our 19^th year of community banking operations saw a year of great profitability and growth. Net income exceeded $2.2 million for the year, which is a 20% increase after the one­time tax adjustment for 2017. Net income was a high-water mark for the bank. Total assets grew over 10% to a historical high of $300 million in total assets. Deposits grew 15% to almost $261 million. Total loans grew to $226 million, a growth rate of 13.5%. Our student loan portfolio grew tremendously, but we faced a great challenge when our default insurer was declared insolvent. We spent the second half of the year dealing with this challenge and increasing our loan loss reserve to cover the uninsured portfolio. Jeff Barber was promoted to Chief Credit Officer.

 

2019, our 20^th year of operation, found a great economy producing fair growth and great earnings. We grew only 2.5% in total assets and only 4.50% in loans, but net earnings exceeded $2.3 million. It was a first for us to achieve a $2.50 earnings per share (EPS). We closed over $19 million in secondary market loans and serviced over $60 million in Fannie Mae conventional mortgages. Credit quality remained outstanding throughout the bank for the entire year. We worked hard to improve our culture by engaging The Emmerich Group. This helped us focus on valuing our best asset...our bankers.

 

2020 was the 21^st year of operations for our community bank. We started the year by hiring Harvey Church as President, the second President of our history. Tremendous turmoil and challenges presented themselves this year. The largest was the COVID-19 pandemic. The government locked down all business for several weeks and threw the best economy of our nation’s history into a tailspin. The government offered the Payroll Protection Program to allow banks to loan money for payroll, and it would be repaid by the federal government. We issued over 240 PPP loans for over $24 million. These funds impacted 3,500 jobs in our market. Charlie Goatz was hired to bolster our commercial lending team and lead our success in the PPP Loan Program. The interest rates plummeted, and mortgage refinancing increased dramatically. Mack Garvin was hired to lead us to a year where we grew 250% in our mortgage loan department closing over $67 million. Deposits grew tremendously, and the bank grew 16% in deposits and total assets. Loan growth was difficult, but net income attained a new high of $2.9 million with a return on equity of over 10%. Earnings per share exceeded $3.00 for the first time. The bank gave each banker 20 shares of stock two times during the year to show appreciation for their challenging work. The bank’s efficiency ratio was below 70% for the first time. We added three directors to our bank board: Harvey Church, John King and John Law, all from the Columbia market.

 

The bank continued to flourish in 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic continued to

challenge daily operations throughout the year. Many clients experienced difficulties, but many had their best year ever. Your Community Bank saw over $90 million in deposit growth achievement as our net income exceeding $3 million. The bank partnered with students from the University of Tennessee at Martin who wrote a paper about the bank that won first place in a national competition of 39 other college teams. The bank performed well during a challenging year and received this great recognition. Board members and senior officers also sold $10.2 million in capital stock for the holding company. Total assets grew over 24%, exceeding $446 million in year end balances. Michael Franks and Brad Hartsfield were added to improve our commercial lending team in Columbia and Dickson. Kelley McCall was hired as the bank’s controller to enhance our accounting/ finance department. The bank participated in round two of the PPP Loan Program and made another 150 loans for $10 million of growth. Sharon Ferrell led our team through a core computer enhancement with FIS Horizon XE.

 

2022 was a year of tremendous profitability. Loans grew over $50 million in our 23^rd year, our best loan growth year in our history. We finished the year with over $300 million in total loan balances. Deposit growth was flat but in our branch footprint we became the second largest bank in our two-county presence. We hold 10.63% of the deposit market share in the cities we serve. Mortgage loan rates increased, and our mortgage team closed about half of the mortgages we closed in each of the last two years. The mortgage servicing portfolio has continued to grow exceeding $125 million Fannie-Mae conventional mortgages that we are servicing. Net income exceeded $4 million for the first time. The bank relocated its Spring Hill branch to Neapolis in northern Maury County. We sold the facility and real estate in Spring Hill. Robby Harmon was elected to the bank’s board of directors. Sharon Ferrell, long-time Dickson County Banker and Chief Deposit Operations Officer, retired in December. Kelley McCall was promoted to Chief Financial Officer. The bank paid its first stock dividend to reduce the tax burden of most of the shareholders.

 

Although the economic challenges of 2023 will mark the history books of our nation, the bank continued to grow and focus on our clients and communities. Our seventh branch was opened in Mt. Pleasant which expanded our footprint in Maury County. TriStar Bank committed to financially supporting several non-profit organizations over the next five years while our employees completed over 1,300 hours of community service. Based on survey results from our employees, the American Bankers Association named TriStar Bank as one of the Best Banks to Work For. Loan growth surpassed the market exceeding $23 million dollars in a rising rate environment. The year ended with satisfactory earnings and asset growth of about $25 million. Shares of stock sold at a value of $42.60 per share. Harvey Church retired after 38 years in the banking industry.

 

 

In 2024, TriStar Bank celebrated its 25^th year of operation.  Throughout the year, the bank chose several ways to commemorate this anniversary milestone.  One way included our bankers making a gift of $250 to a non-profit of their choosing. These gifts totaled $21,500 and were donated to support the communities we serve. At the annual shareholders’ meeting we honored our long-time chairman and founder, Jerry V. Smith.  Jerry served on our board for 25 years.  He was an organizer, founder, and our longest serving chairman of 15 years.  Jerry’s love and leadership for our bank will have an impact that will last a lifetime.  During the year, the bank employed Sylvia Crockett to serve as our Innovation Officer.  We anticipate her experience with banking technology and operations will propel us to better client service and care.  Robby Harmon led the executive team in the implementation of Entrepreneurial Operation Systems (E.O.S.).  The operating system has helped our bank move to the next level and will assist us in organizing ourselves for better service and performance.  The bank completed 2024 with the second-best profitable year in our history.  Loan demand created a year of strong growth.  Although deposit growth continues to be a challenge, our treasury management solutions group made a great effort to overcome this challenge.  We ended the year with 88 bankers who care for and serve our clients well. 

 

Throughout 2025, TriStar Bank achieved extraordinary milestones that reflect both strong financial performance and a deep commitment to its clients, bankers, and community. The bank surpassed $500 million in assets, marketing a significant growth benchmark, and delivered the most profitable year in its history, with net earnings reaching $4.3 million. The bank continued its 25^th year celebration by hosting a special employee event at the Country Music Hall of Fame.  Additionally, the 25^th shareholders meeting was held at the Wonders Center where long-time board member Wilson Overton was recognized upon his retirement from the board. During this landmark year, Robby Harmon was named President of the bank, becoming only the third President in the bank’s history, a testament to strong leadership and strategic vision. Chad Murphy and Evans Smith were added as advisory board members in September.  Beyond financial success, the bank was recognized for its workplace culture, earning the honors of “2025 Best Banks to Work For” and “Best Place for Working Parents”, underscoring its support for its bankers and families. Its bankers also poured into the surrounding communities, completing over 1,400 hours of community service for approximately 160 organizations. Additionally, the bank received the Financial Literacy Award from the State Financial Literacy commission, highlighting its leadership and dedication to improving financial education and empowering the communities it serves