CenterState Bank was searching for revenue and growth opportunities outside of traditional strained banking services. Consequently, they decided to bring a team of correspondent bankers from a recently failed institution to replicate products and services that were not impacted by the mid-2000s negative economic and financial environment. The bank’s management team, however, had no experience operating this type of business and had no physical presence in Atlanta where the correspondent banking team was located.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When targeted to accomplish the task, Brett first visited the existing commercial and retail banking teams and operations to understand the backroom system capabilities and share correspondent requirements.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

$\"Brett$

Brett Rawls,
C-Level Business Strategy & Growth Executive<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI partnered with key individuals from the operations and IT teams to assess the environment and set up initial operating procedures through the bank while simultaneously establishing processes and procedures with the Atlanta-based correspondent division. After the initial strategic plan was on paper, I developed the budget, hired personnel, secured office space, and evaluated product options for immediate delivery and long-term proprietary development. Finally, I established the revenue and pricing model for the division’s services.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Within one year, the Division established a revenue stream of more than $30 million via investment and payment services. This led to a rapid expansion, opening eight additional correspondent offices, and acquiring over 600 financial institution clients. During this time, Brett\u2019s direct responsibilities also included managing multiple high performing areas in the Correspondent Division (business development, marketing, payments solutions, and international services.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was then asked to step into the commercial bank and build\/lead a small Treasury Management team and create the Bank’s SBA Lending group, growing [them] both substantially over the next few years.\u00a0 Based on these successes, I was promoted to the executive team and charged with crafting the Chief Administrative Officer role, which meant more opportunities to establish new teams and initiatives again.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Brett, based upon his experience starting and successfully leading the Correspondent Division, led to his successful rise within the organization.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n