Organizers

hope to open the doors in mid-February for what

will be, for a few months at least, Fayette

County's only locally owned and managed bank.

The

Bank of Georgia recently completed its initial

stock sale, raising a whopping $11 million in 67

days, with most of the 350 or so investors being

local businesses and customers.

The

bank's headquarters, still under construction,

will be a building on Ga. Highway 54 just east of

Peachtree City, next to Ace Hardware. For now,

the bank's organizers - president-CEO Pat

Shepherd and executive vice presidents Mickey

Godwin and Rick Duncan - have set up shop in

a trailer next to the building.

Construction

is about 30 days behind schedule, but the bank

should be open the week of Feb. 14, Shepherd

said.

The

management team has a combined 70-plus years of

experience, and all three worked previously for

Fayette County Bank, which was acquired by

Regions.

"We

felt like there was a real need for a community

bank - a local decision-maker," said

Shepherd of the decision to form the Bank of

Georgia.

That

name, which sounds like a statewide conglomerate,

came about as a pleasant surprise, Shepherd said.

The

group's original choice was First Southern

Community Bank, which was too similar to another

local bank now forming in Fayetteville. State

officials informed Shepherd of this, then told

him he could have "Bank of Georgia" if

he wanted it. He happily said yes.

That

name was used many years ago by another bank, but

it reverted to the Secretary of State's office

after a merger and was up for grabs as a result.

In

addition to Shepherd, Godwin and Duncan, the

bank's board of directors consists of Arlie

Aukerman, Steve Black, Dale Geeslin, W. Robert

Hancock Jr., Michael Rossetti, Donnie Russell,

Tom Sellmer, Rick Stanziale, and James Webb Jr.

Stanziale,

of Amacor in Tyrone, will serve as chairman of

the board, with Black, of Pathway Communities,

serving as vice chairman.

The

12 board members invested a combined $3.35

million, nearly $300,000 apiece, during the stock

sale. That says something about their commitment

to the institution's success, Shepherd said.

"This

is a highly regulated industry, and there is some

personal liability involved with being a board

member," he said. "We are fortunate to

have a great, diverse group of guys."

The

state required a minimum of $7.5 million to be

raised in the stock sale, which was surpassed

with ease. More than $1 million was turned away,

because the state also sets a maximum, Shepherd

said.

Most

of the investors were found through

word-of-mouth, as each of the directors turned in

lists of prospects and the management team drew

upon its pool of large customer bases.

total of 14 employees will staff the bank,

including the three top positions, and all but

three of those spots have been filled.

low-key opening is the plan for February, to make

certain any potential problems are spotted and

ironed out, and a more festive grand-opening

announcement is planned for when the weather

improves.

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