Heritage Southeast Bancorp. in Jonesboro, Ga., which tried unsuccessfully to sell its bank to a credit union, has agreed to be sold to First Bancshares in Hattiesburg, Miss.    The $6.3 billion-asset First Bancshares said in a press release Wednesday that it will pay $207 million in stock for the $1.7 billion-asset Heritage Southeast. The deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter or early next year, priced

Sturgis Bancorp in Michigan has a new bank CEO. The $318 million-asset company said in a press release Wednesday that Jason Hyska had been appointed to the role. Hyska previously served as head of retail lending. Matt Scheske was named the bank’s president and chief operating officer. He was head of commercial lending. Hyska and Scheske succeeded Eric Eishen, who remains the company’s president and CEO. Eishen will oversee strategic planning, risk management,

Grasshopper Bank in New York has signed its first Banking-as-a-Service client. The $305 million-asset bank is working with Treasure Financial, a fintech that provides automated cash management solutions for growing businesses. The partnership is designed to support Treasure’s treasury management offering and help Grasshopper deepen ties to small and midsize businesses. Treasure said in a press release that the companies are exploring ways to offer its solution to Grasshopper clients. “Treasure is the

BayFirst Financial in St. Petersburg, Fla., is seeing early traction from the launch of a Small Business Administration product. The $922-million asset company said in a press release that it debuted Bolt, a 7(a) product designed to quickly originate loans of $150,000 or less, during the second quarter. BayFirst said that, through July 22, about 350 loans have been made or are in process, totaling $46.5 million. The company plans to deploy

Finward Bancorp in Munster, Ind., has closed two branches. The $2.1 billion-asset company said in a press release Wednesday that it shuttered the offices on July 1.Finward did not identify the markets where the branches were located, the restructuring costs or long-term cost savings. Finward, which had already closed a branch in 2021, said it is evaluating its remaining 29 branches for future closures, noting that some have “the potential for reducing

Investar Bancorp in Baton Rouge, La., has agreed to sell two branches in south Texas to First Community Bank in Corpus Christi, Texas. The $2.6 billion-asset Investar said in a press release that it expects to sell the locations in the first quarter. “We expect that the sale will permit us to focus more on our core markets,” the release said. The branches – in Alice and Victoria – had $34 million of deposits in mid-2021,

New York Community Bancorp in Hicksville said deposit growth in the second quarter largely reflected growth in its Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform.The $63.1 billion-asset company said in a press release that its total deposits increased by $3.3 billion from a quarter earlier, to $41.2 billion. Nearly 70% of that increase – $2.3 billion – came from its BaaS operations.  New York Community had $7.8 billion of BaaS deposits, or roughly 20%

Hanover Bancorp in Mineola, N.Y., plans to open its first branch on Long Island. The $1.5 billion-asset company said in a press release Wednesday that it will open a location in Hauppage, N.Y., by the end of this year.  Hanover said the full-service, high-tech branch has already received regulatory approval. It will be located next to the Long Island Innovation Park. “Moving eastward to Suffolk County Long Island strategically supports the growth