Heritage Commerce in San Jose, Calif., will soon have a new CEO. The $5.1 billion-asset company said in a press release Thursday that Clay Jones will also succeed Walter Kaczmarek as president, effective Sept. 15. Jones, who is president and chief operating officer of Heritage Bank of Commerce, will also join the company’s board. Kaczmarek will remain on the board. “I would like to thank Walt for his unwavering commitment to

Red River Bancshares in Alexandria, La., is planning to open its first branch in New Orleans. The $3.1 billion-asset company said in a press release that it leased and remodeled a downtown branch. The location, which received regulatory approval, will open in the third quarter. Red River opened a branch in Lafayette, La., in January. “We continued to execute our organic expansion plans as we invest for future growth opportunities and to

Several community banks used their quarterly earnings releases to tease out technological enhancements.Kearny Financial in Fairfield, N.J.; Quaint Oak Bancorp in Southampton, Pa.; and Third Coast Bancshares in Humble, Texas, were among the smaller banks to talk about upgrades in their core platforms, working with fintech or moving into Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS). The $7.7 billion-asset Kearny said in a press release that it is looking to adopt a cloud-based digital banking platform.

Organizers of the proposed Evermore Bank in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., have received conditional approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The FDIC is requiring the group to raise at least $25 million before opening the bank. Organizers originally outlined plans to raise $26 million to $45 million of initial capital. They plan to open a second branch in Wellington, Fla., during the first quarter of the bank's first year of operations. The goal

Customers Bancorp in Wyomissing, Pa., continues to make progress with digital assets. The $20.3 billion-asset company said in a press release that it onboarded 90 instant token clients to its digital bank during the second quarter, increasing total customers to 190. Digital asset-related deposits increased by $300 million in the second quarter from a quarter earlier. The company said it had attracted about $2.1 billion of core low- to no-cost deposits through

Peoples-Sidney Financial in Sidney, Ohio garnered considerable interest from potential buyers before agreeing to be sold to Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in Archbold, Ohio. The $2.7 billion-asset F&M agreed in mid-June to buy the $133 million-asset Peoples-Sidney for $27 million. Peoples-Sidney received 10 nonbinding indications of interest before agreeing to talk with F&M, according to a regulatory filing tied to the pending merger. Peoples-Sidney hired an investment bank in January to help it

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,