N.C. bank sold to Bank of the Ozarks
Bank of the Ozarks Inc. (NASDAQ: OZRK), which operates a branch in Savannah, announced Friday it will buy the First National Bank of Shelby in Shelby, N.C.
Little Rock-based Bank of the Ozarks will acquire all of First National Bank’s outstanding common stock in a transaction valued at about $67.8 million, including $64 million for the common stock and about $3.8 million for real estate.
First National Bank, which opened in Shelby in 1874, operates 14 North Carolina offices in a four-county area west of Charlotte and, as of Dec. 31, had about $857 million of total assets.
“Bank of the Ozarks has been operating in nearby Charlotte for over a decade, giving us good insight into the market. We are pleased to expand our service area to these additional communities,” said George Gleason, chairman and chief executive officer of Bank of the Ozarks.
Bank of the Ozarks entered the Savannah market in July 2010 with its acquisition of Woodlands Bank, a failed institution based in Bluffton, and has a branch in the Stephenson Executive Center at the corner of Stephenson Avenue and Habersham Street.
Memorial cancer program accredited
The Curtis and Elizabeth Anderson Cancer Institute at Memorial University Medical Center has been granted a three-year accreditation with commendation by the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons.
The accreditation followed an on-site evaluation by a physician surveyor who examined the cancer institute’s leadership, data management, clinical services, research, community outreach and quality improvement programs.
The commission on cancer is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to improving survival rates and quality of life for cancer patients through standard setting, prevention, research, education and the monitoring of comprehensive, quality care.
More information can be found at www.facs.org/cancer.
Annual tourism dinner scheduled
The Savannah Tourism Leadership Council will hold its 15th annual tourism awards and scholarship dinner on Feb. 21 in the Harborside Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Savannah, 2 E. Bay St., with the theme “I am tourism.”
The event is designed to honor the 22,000 people who work in tourism in the greater Savannah area, and the organization is inviting people to send photos of themselves and their co-workers to be featured at the dinner. Send the pictures to tlc@tourismleadershipcouncil.com by Jan. 31.
The TLC also wants nominations of outstanding tourism workers with nominating forms on www.tourismleadershipcouncil.com. They’re due by Jan. 31.
Cocktails will start at 5:30 p.m., with dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets are $55. For more information, call 912-232-1223.