Since opening in 2017, Winter Park National Bank has assumed a pivotal role in serving the community. With a commitment to providing top-notch financial services, and under the leadership of CEO David Dotherow and President Sid Cash, the bank has become an integral part in the lives of Winter Park residents.
“The bank started with $40 million in private money from local investors and a board of directors comprised of local businessmen with deep roots in the community,” Dotherow told the32789. “The genesis of the bank’s organization was to fill the void in community banking in the Central Florida market.”
As WPNB commemorates six years of operation in the city, and one year in Longwood, Dotherow discusses the bank’s ability to survive and thrive in an evolving financial landscape.
How have you seen the bank grow over the years? When we opened in August 2017, we had 16 employees and one location in Winter Park. We now have 31 employees and a second location in Longwood at the corner of Wekiva Springs Road and East Lake Brantley Drive. Our focus on building relationships while providing our clients the financial services and tools they need, combined with superior personal service, has helped us grow a loyal customer base. This has been key to our financial success and has put us in a better position to give back to the community.
What is the most rewarding part about working for the bank? The most rewarding part about working for the bank is the ability to help individuals and small businesses more directly and broadly with their financial service needs. Even though we are a small institution, we have the ability to offer many of the same products and services that larger institutions provide. However, because we are a small institution, we have a greater ability to customize our solutions to meet our client’s specific needs.
What are some recent accomplishments? While not recent, we take great pride that, back in 2017, we were the first full-service national bank to be issued a charter and the first de novo bank to be approved for federal deposit insurance in Florida since the financial crisis. The accomplishment was such that the then-acting Comptroller of the Currency personally presented us with the charter at our office.
More recently, the bank was highlighted by S&P Capital IQ as the third best-performing community bank of 2022 in the Southeast for institutions under $10B in assets. Based on data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, the bank’s performance beat the top 50 median as well as the region’s median in six of the seven metrics analyzed. The bank’s five-year average operating revenue growth was the highest among the 50 best performers in the ranking. Based on criteria set by S&P, 732 banks and thrifts were eligible for ranking.
How did the bank weather COVID-19? Like all businesses, we had to adapt to the challenging and evolving circumstances caused by the pandemic. Through it all, we were able to continue to operate and serve the banking needs of our clients. In the chaotic early stages of the pandemic, we were able to obtain approval from the Small Business Administration to originate PPP loans and thus provide an avenue for funding our clients and other small businesses in the community that were turned away by their financial institution. We originated 292 PPP loans, totaling $41.5 million.
Are there any future plans for expansion beyond the current 2 branches? At this time, there are no future plans to expand beyond the two branches that we currently have. However, we may consider it should the right opportunity present itself that we feel will benefit our customers and the community.
