By Ken Jackson
Staff Writer

A pair of longtime Osceola County bankers is helping bring local, community banking back to the area.

Charlie Rogers and Tom White, who were in on the ground floor of starting the First National Bank of Osceola in the 1980’s, have returned to the smaller, community bank model that First National, which eventually became part of the CenterState Bank organization, got away from as it grew and merged with other institutions.

Rogers and White now serve as vice president of Commercial Lending and senior vice president respectively, of Florida Traditions Bank, which has set up its temporary office in St. Cloud. Ground has already broken for the bank’s Kissimmee branch off Central Avenue near Osceola Regional Medical Center, and they currently seek a plot of land for a 5,000- square-foot permanent St. Cloud location.

Florida Traditions began in 2007 and is expanding its footprint into Osceola County from its six locations in Polk and Pasco counties. Its CEO, James Stalnaker, who also came from a community bank background and formed the company in order to get back to it, is a former banking colleague of Rogers and White.

Rogers said they jumped at the opportunity to return to community-based banking, and do it in the area where they’ve thrived in business for decades.

“We’ve been in this area working for over 30 years, and we couldn’t be happier,” he said.

Florida Traditions is a highly-capitalized entity, and carries a five-star rating in the Bauer Financial ratings index.

Rogers said the smaller-bank model is good for a community like St. Cloud.

“Philosophically, big regional banks lack the personal level of service. Aside from their physical presence, they really have no ties to the community, and their profits can go to some corporate office in some other state,” he said. “With a community bank like this, the money the bank makes stays in town, it is loaned and capitalized locally. You build your bank as you build your community. The customers are the reason we’re here, and it’s critical to keep the perspective of what’s important.”

When First National of Osceola grew into CenterState and went public in 2002, it brought about extra scrutiny and change, White said.

Change isn’t always good, and he said he was happy for the chance to get back to his roots with Florida Traditions.

“Charlie and I are community bankers. When consolidation happens, management changes and authority changes,” White said. “I was excited about this opportunity, and happy to bring Charlie on board. It gets us back into a community bank by organization, and (Stalnaker) has given us the authority to put it into the position it needs to be in to succeed.”

And based on the clientele they’ve already picked up since opening for business around Labor Day, success is not far off, if it hasn’t been achieved already.

“The community’s been great, and we’ve been active in the community, where the reception has been excellent,” White said.”

Florida Traditions features all the usual banking products, merchant services, cash management operations, insurance and commercial lending offerings.

Once both permanent Osceola County locations are up and running, they will add 16 banking jobs to the area.