SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – Long-time Sevier County bankers William “Bill” Carroll and his son William “Billy” Carroll are establishing SmartBank, a new, Tennessee-chartered commercial bank in Sevierville.
Joining the Carrolls in organizing SmartBank are local business leaders Victor Barrett (The Track Recreation Centers), Ted Miller (Dolly Parton Productions), David Ogle (Five Oaks Development), Dr. Keith Whaley (Whaley Family EyeCare) and Geoffrey Wolpert (The Park Grill and The Peddler). Full organizer bios are attached.
The organizers plan to submit their notice of intent to establish the new bank with the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions in the coming weeks, and following approval of the notice will begin soliciting investors for the bank’s common stock. Bill Carroll will serve as the bank’s Chairman of the Board and Director of Business Development; Billy Carroll will be the bank’s President and CEO. Additional executive officers will be announced at a later date.
“In leading Sevier County’s largest community bank for 33 years, I learned a lot about the banking needs of customers in our area,” said Bill Carroll. “There are several excellent banks in our community and we realize that we are going to have to be smart and offer better choices to compete successfully. That’s why we chose the name SmartBank; it sets a higher bar for us as an organization.”
Billy Carroll was enthusiastic about the prospects for SmartBank: “We’re starting from scratch, taking our SmartBank name seriously, and we’re going to be smart every step of the way. We intend to be smart organizers; we’re looking for smart investors; we’re going to implement smart and innovative business practices…and if we do it right, banking with us will be a smart choice,” Carroll said.
“It takes approximately a year, start-to-finish, to open a new bank in Tennessee,” Bill Carroll said. “Each step in the process presents both challenges and opportunities, and the organizers of SmartBank will proceed just as the bank’s name suggests. We’ll be inviting our friends and neighbors to be shareholders, and we hope to sell most of the stock right here in our area.”
The mailing address for SmartBank is P.O. Box 5560, Sevierville, TN 37864-5560.