Coleman Movers & Shakers – Steven Deaton, Jeff Magginnis, and Fountainhead

March 17, 2022

Delaney Sexton
Contributing Editor

Coleman Movers & Shakers – Steven Deaton, Jeff Magginnis, and Fountainhead

First Carolina Bank Announces Steven Deaton as the Chief Credit Officer of the New Atlanta Office

Ron Day, President and CEO of the Bank, says, “We are extremely fortunate to have someone with the experience and market knowledge that Steven possesses join our team at this critical juncture of our growth progression. We have long planned to enter the Atlanta market given our connections and existing business relationships in the metro area, and we now have the executive leadership team in place there to confidently extend all facets of our platform.

“In addition, Steven will help us consider new opportunities for growth given his program expertise in SBA lending and corporate finance. Steven will initially be responsible for credit adjudication, portfolio servicing and oversight of the Bank’s loan business in Georgia, South Carolina, and western North Carolina. He will partner with our current chief risk officer, Stokes Suiter, our managing director of market development for South Carolina and Georgia, David Torris, and our new market president for Atlanta, Thomas Forsberg, in delivering the exceptional First Carolina Bank customer experience to businesses and consumers across Georgia, South Carolina and western North Carolina.”

Steven joins the Bank with 36 years of experience in the banking industry and will bring a wealth of knowledge in the areas of commercial, small business and consumer banking, credit administration, enterprise risk management, and regulatory relations. He has spent the majority of his banking career with regional and community banks operating in the metro Atlanta area. Steven is originally from High Point, NC and graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Jeff Magginnis Joins Community First Bank of Indiana as SVP, SBA Program Director

CFB Chief Credit Officer Bob Hickman says, “Jeff has an outstanding track record of managing SBA lending programs here in Indiana. We are excited to have him join our team as we seek to expand our SBA lending efforts, and I am sure his experience and expertise will be a key factor in our future success.”

Magginnis joined CFB in February and brings 29 years of industry experience to the team. For the past 22 years, he has been involved with commercial lending, increasingly focusing his time on delivering SBA programs to small businesses in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. For the past five years he has focused solely on building a strong SBA team with a small regional bank where he also was instrumental in delivering Paycheck Protection Program loans to over 11,000 small businesses. He says he is very passionate about the SBA program and its impact on the local business community.

Since 2017, he has earned the honor of serving on the loan committee for Bankable, which helps start, grow, and build Indiana small businesses, and on the loan committee for Premier Capital since 2018, which empowers the growth of businesses through access to the SBA 504 loan program.

Fountainhead Ranks No. 32 on Inc. Magazine’s List of the Southeast Region’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies

“This year’s Inc. 5000 Regional winners represent one of the most exceptional and exciting lists of America’s off-the-charts growth companies. They’re disrupters and job creators, and all delivered an outsize impact on the economy. Remember their names and follow their lead. These are the companies you’ll be hearing about for years to come,” says Scott Omelianuk, editor-in-chief of Inc.

Founded in 2015, Fountainhead is one of only 14 SBA approved nationwide, nonbank, direct commercial lending firms (SBLCs or Small Business Lending Companies) specializing in funding commercial real estate projects and providing growth financing for small-to-midsize businesses utilizing SBA 7(a), SBA 504, low LTV conventional loans – and most recently, Paycheck Protection Program loans. Fountainhead made the top 100 list for most active SBA lenders in the nation in its first full year of operations and earned SBA’s coveted “Preferred Lending Partner” designation in 2019. In seven short years, Fountainhead has grown into the largest SBA-approved nonbank lender in the Southeast, the third-largest SBA lender based in Florida and the fastest growing firm in Orlando. The company has made loans in all 50 states and six territories and financed over $5.45 billion in total projects, helping to create or retain an estimated 480,000 jobs.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Fountainhead’s team of 16 Orlando-based employees, plus another 13 throughout the country, funded more than $4.72 billion in relief funds, by far Central Florida’s largest PPP lender. In fact, of all PPP loans made to Florida-based businesses in 2021, Fountainhead made 6.67% of them (40,093 for $487.61 million), more than any other lender in the state. In 2021, the company also earned the distinction of being the nation’s sixth-most-active PPP lender, saving an estimated 430,000 American jobs nationwide.

“We’re thrilled to be recognized as one of the region’s fastest-growing companies,” says Founder and CEO Chris Hurn. “Ranking this high is only possible because of the hard work and commitment the whole Fountainhead team has put in over the past two years. Not only have we survived pandemic-caused economic turmoil, but we’ve also thrived and managed to help America’s small businesses while doing so.”