Aug. 3--All roads lead back to the banks.

At this year's Growth Summit on Friday, the public will get a chance to hear from the head of one of the Grand Strand's largest banks -- BB&T's chairman and chief executive officer, John Allison.

Allison is a natural fit to keynote this year's summit, which comes after weeks of turmoil and change at the largest banks and lending businesses in the world, said Henry Lowenstein, dean of the Wall College of Business at Coastal Carolina University, one of the summit's sponsors.

"The banking industry plays a central role in a lot of what is driving the economy," Lowenstein said. "You have people who are willing and able to buy homes who may not want to buy them -- because they're scared of the prices dropping. You have banks that are tightening credit."

BB&T emerged as the biggest bank in the area last year when it acquired Myrtle Beach-based Coastal Federal Bank. The $394.6 million merger gave BB&T the lead market share, moving it up from No. 4.

Lowenstein said he hopes Allison will share how BB&T has avoided some of the problems seen in the rest of the banking industry.

Allison was not available last week for an interview for this report.

The country has seen the spiraling subprime mortgage crisis reach the very top echelons of finance. Last month, the federal government said it would bail out two giant mortgage companies, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, if need be, which the Congressional Budget Office said could cost taxpayers $25 billion.

As rising home prices provided false hope that real estate was a slump-proof investment, some banks and mortgage companies loosened their lending practices.

They approved mortgages for people who could not afford them at rates that would drive them deeper into trouble. Meanwhile, the initial companies that put together the loans would sell them to other investors -- freeing themselves from the risk of default.

Once the housing slump hit, more people were unable to afford mortgages and owed more than their houses were worth. That caused a credit freeze that caught many banks by surprise.

By and large, local banks are considered shielded from the problems that were fatal to some banks, notably IndyMac Bank of California.

IndyMac Bancorp Inc., former holding company of the California mortgage lender, was seized last month by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., prompting customers to line the block around the bank in California, eager to get their money. IndyMac Bank became the largest regulated thrift, a type of bank that focuses largely on mortgages and consumer loans, to fail upon its takeover by the FDIC.

Analysts say Grand Strand banks aren't as likely to face the troubles larger banks have because they either did not engage in risky lending practices, or because they no longer own many risky loans.