Aug. 19, 2009 (Business Wire) -- The South Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSFG) announced that it has named Richard Bradshaw as Executive Vice President and Director of Small Business Administration (SBA) Lending. Bradshaw will be responsible for the creation and management of a SBA lending unit to generate new customers by focusing on small business lending opportunities in Carolina First Bank’s North Carolina and South Carolina markets and Mercantile Bank’s Florida markets.
Bradshaw joins The South Financial Group with more than 20 years of experience in the lending field. Most recently, he served as President of UPS Capital Business Credit, a subsidiary of UPS Capital based in Atlanta, Georgia. During Bradshaw’s tenure, the company tripled SBA origination volume and moved from the 45th to the 10th largest national SBA lender for the government for fiscal year 2008. Prior to UPS Capital, Bradshaw was Executive Vice President of Commercial Lending at First International Bank, which was acquired by UPS Capital in 2001.
Chris Holmes, Executive Vice President and Director of Corporate Financial Services, commented, “We are very pleased to have Rich on our team. His experience and successes in SBA lending will greatly strengthen our efforts to attract and deepen our relationships with small business and commercial customers. In addition, the formation of a SBA lending unit under Rich’s leadership positions us to better address the needs of small business customers during an economic period when our customers and markets need access to credit.”
Bradshaw is a retired, highly decorated Commander for the U.S. Navy Reserve, and he served five years active duty as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force. He is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management and a Masters of Business Administration from Pepperdine University.
About The South Financial Group
The South Financial Group is a bank holding company focused on serving small businesses, middle market companies, and retail customers in the Carolinas and Florida. At June 30, 2009, it had approximately $12.6 billion in total assets and 177 branch offices. TSFG operates Carolina First Bank, which conducts banking operations in North Carolina and South Carolina (as Carolina First Bank), in Florida (as Mercantile Bank), and on the Internet (as Bank CaroLine). At June 30, 2009, approximately 46% of TSFG’s total customer deposits were in South Carolina, 42% were in Florida, and 12% were in North Carolina. Investor information is available at www.thesouthgroup.com.
