An expansion by First Bank into SBA-backed lending will see the Southern Pines-based financial institution establish its sales operation in Wilmington.
 
Stephanie Dunn has been named national sales manager for First Bank’s SBA Division, according to the bank’s announcement this week. Dunn, formerly with Live Oak Bank’s funeral home industry lending team, will base her SBA lending development efforts in Wilmington.
 
Working with Dunn is Laura Petty, formerly a marketing professional with Live Oak Bank. Petty is now vice president and national marketing manager of First Bank’s SBA Division and is also based in Wilmington.

Dunn sees significant potential for First Bank in small business lending.
 
"The U.S. economy is driven by enormous corporations, yet our country was founded by small business owners with an entrepreneurial spirit,” she said in the announcement news release. “For 17 years, I have been passionate about lending to businesspeople looking for the opportunity to provide goods and services to customers in their local communities. By lending entrepreneurs the money to build their local businesses, I feel that I get to play a small part in helping them realize their dreams."
 
First Bank, the wholly owned bank subsidiary of First Bancorp, will offer SBA 7(a), USDA and 504 loans to small business owners throughout the United States, the release stated, adding that First Bank's entrance into SBA lending allows the company “to better serve its existing communities as well as develop a national footprint to offer loan products that help small business owners who may not qualify for conventional loans.”
 
First Bancorp has total assets of about $3.5 billion, according to the release. Its subsidiary, First Bank, operates 87 branches in North and South Carolina. Nine of those branches are in the Wilmington market, in which it maintains a 3.7 percent market share.
 
The bank’s “strong reputation across the Carolinas” will provide a foundation for its SBA initiative regionally, CEO Richard Moore said in the release.
 
"We are excited about the addition of our SBA division and the complete lending services we can offer business owners and entrepreneurs across First Bank communities and throughout the United States,” he said, “We will continue to offer the same level of superior customer service and quality to our new loan clients that our Carolina customer base has known for so long."
 
Dunn said the bank has hired a number of “seasoned SBA lenders” nationally to expand its lending footprint. The new division will serve all 50 states.
 
"By connecting experienced lenders with entrepreneurially-minded small business owners, we create the perfect partnership and allow our customers the financial means to meet their long-term business goals," she said.