VantageSouth Bank Adds Small Business Development Office to SBA Team

Online, June 23, 2012 (Newswire.com) - VantageSouth Bank announced today the addition of Grady Matthews to its Small Business Administration lending group. Matthews has been brought on board as Small Business Development Officer for the bank, which was ranked as the No. 1 SBA lender in the state of North Carolina by the SBA earlier this year.

In his new position, Matthews will oversee business development in the Triangle area and Eastern North Carolina for the bank's government lending programs. He comes to the SBA program with a well-versed background that will help him dovetail with the experience of VantageSouth Bank's existing team. Before joining VantageSouth Bank earlier this year, Matthews was the principal owner at Granite Development since 2005. He was a partner and Vice President of Development for Charlotte-based Crosland, Inc., from 2000 to 2005.

"Having spent 15 years as a real estate developer working with large corporations, I am excited to be working to help smaller businesses get started and to gain new strength after several years of year of economic uncertainty," said Matthews. "VantageSouth Bank has a specialized team of SBA experts that can execute and process transactions quickly to help borrowers get the loans they need to enhance their businesses or start new ventures."

SBA lending is a guarantee loan program aimed to help start-up and existing small businesses in the United States for a variety of business purposes and is designed for credit-worthy borrowers who may have difficulty getting access to financing at reasonable terms. According to a report issued by the North Carolina SBA District Office in Charlotte, VantageSouth Bank's SBA lending volume production exceeded that of other community banks and larger banks in the state through the first five months of the SBA's fiscal year. The bank's SBA department is based out of Salisbury, with its lending professionals operating across the state.

"At VantageSouth Bank, we're assembling a best-of-the-best team of banking professionals," said Chris Kwiatkowski, Senior Vice President of Government Lending for VantageSouth Bank. "The success of our SBA team is a testament to that: they are solely dedicated to utilizing the SBA program to deliver success for our clients."

There are five VantageSouth Bank branches statewide, including two locations in Burlington, two locations in Salisbury and the newest location in Fayetteville.

About VantageSouth Bank:
VantageSouth Bank was established in 2006 and is headquartered in Burlington, NC. It currently serves Alamance, Cumberland and Rowan counties and the surrounding areas through five locations: Burlington (two), Fayetteville (one) and Salisbury (two).