Congratulations to Central Bank for making the cover story of this month’s Florida Banking magazine. The Tampa headquartered community bank, with branches in St. Augustine, Winter Park and Suwanee, Georgia, was described as a thriving Minority Deposit Institution (MDI), providing banking services and loans for underserved communities. The article describes that the bank was founded by Raj Patel, Chairman of the Board, along with his brother Nilesh Patel, Executive Vice President, to serve the large Asian Indian population in the Tampa Bay area. At that time, there were no banks in Florida serving that community. Due to its efforts to reach out to various diverse communities, the bank has expanded its branches around Florida, and more recently to Georgia with over $300 million in assets to date. President and CEO John Thompson, a graduate of The Bolles School in Jacksonville, believes the bank’s success will continue into the future because his bank is growth and change oriented and they continue to invest in technology to meet customer expectations. Plus, they want to continue to emphasize their local roots and customer service. The executive team pictured on the cover of Florida Banking magazine includes (from left to right) David Edgar, Chief Financial Officer, Raj Patel, Founder and Chairman, John Thompson, President/CEO, and Nilesh Patel, Founder and Executive Vice President.
