Founders Bank SSB, billing itself as Fort Bend County’s only locally owned and managed bank, has officially opened for business with a new Sugar Land branch in the Kroger shopping center at 4971 Sweetwater Blvd.
Led by Chief Executive Officer Jim Sturgeon, the former president of First Community Bank Fort Bend, Founders Bank will move into permanent headquarters at Lexington and Sweetwater – in Founders Bank Plaza, which is now under construction – in spring 2008, the company said.
Organizers of the state savings bank reportedly intend to raise between $12 million and $20 million in capital.
“We’re filling the need for a locally owned and managed bank that is focused on serving the Fort Bend area,” Sturgeon said in a statement. “No other bank in the Sugar Land-Stafford-Missouri City area is majority owned by local residents.”
Sturgeon said more than 80 percent of the bank’s stock is owned by Fort Bend County residents. And the bank’s management team, board of directors and founding investors all have “deep roots in the Fort Bend market.”
Founders Bank’s chief operating and financial officer is Executive Vice President Shirley Knesek-Enloe, who has more than 30 years’ experience in accounting and banking, most recently at Partners Bank of Texas.
Board directors include Chairman Rickey Williams, president of Houston’s HomeVestors-WFI Properties and a former First Community Bank director; O.J. Armstrong, manging partner of construction and development company The Crossmark Group and also a former First Community director; long-time Sugar Land resident Billy Brown, founder, president and CEO of oilfield service manufacturer Blueline Manufacturing; Kolbe Curtice, founder of Sugar Land commercial brokerage firm Curtice Commercial Real Estate; David Moore, owner and president of Stafford’s Westport Homes; Juliet Breeze, founder and president of healthcare management company Partners in Practice and a former CEO of Richmond Bone and Joint Clinic; and Miles D. Harper III, a partner in the Gainer, Donnelly & Desroches CPA firm.
“We know Fort Bend,” Sturgeon said. “That in-depth understanding of the local market is a real value to customers who need a bank that can be flexible and responsive.”
“We offer a ‘hometown’ bank experience that people appreciate,” said Williams. “Our customers desire a closer relationship with their bank, one that’s built around excellent service and the ability to meet individual needs.”
