Area Development
CertusBank N.A. announces it will locate its new headquarters in Greenville, SC, and create 350 jobs. The financial institution is set to take up 26,000-sq.-ft of space as the anchor tenant in a new 175,000-sq.-ft., mixed-use development in the city's downtown area expected to be completed by the end of 2012. CertusBank Vice Chairman Walter Davis said the company also plans to open a full-service CertusBank branch on the ground floor of the same building.

The bank operates 32 branches in South Carolina, Florida and Georgia. Florida. Presently it operates from the Atlanta, GA, and Charlotte, SC, offices of its parent--Blue Ridge Holdings---and its operations center in Easley, SC. In its first five months of existence, the company acquired three financial institutions, and said it plans to expand its presence by buying more banks in other markets.

The South Carolina Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved CertusBank for Job Development Credits (JDC), This discretionary, performance-based incentive rebates a portion of new employees' employees' withholding taxes that can be used to address specific needs of individual companies.

"Our entire economic development team--GADC, City of Greenville, Upstate SC Alliance, Greenville Chamber, State Department of Commerce--all worked very hard to assist the bank in making this happen," said H.G. "Butch" Kirven Jr., director of the Greenville Area Development Corporation and chairman of Greenville County Council.

Mayor Knox White noted that Greenville's strong economic development activity and pro-business climate makes the region attractive to "migrating" capital and industry players, like CertusBank.