Avenue hires two for mortgage unit

By Geert De Lombaerde Posted on August 5, 2009 at 2:46 pm

Bill Long and David Kazmerowski have joined Avenue Bank’s mortgage division. Long comes to two-year-old Avenue from Magna Bank’s Brentwood office, which was recently sold to Reliant Bank. Before that, he was the longtime head of SunTrust Mortgage Co.’s local operations. Kazmerowski returns to the banking world from the commercial real estate sector, where he was most recently VP at Browning Inc.

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Tags: Avenue Bank, banking, Bill Long, Browning Inc., David Kazmerowski, Magna Bank, mortgages, SunTrust Banks Inc.  

State honor for Samuels

By Geert De Lombaerde Posted on July 23, 2009 at 2:22 pm

The Tennessee Bankers Association has named Avenue Bank CEO Ron Samuels a Leader in Banking Excellence.

Over the course of his more than 40-year career, Samuels has served in a leadership capacity at multiple banks and businesses. Before founding Avenue Bank in 2007, Samuels was group president for Regions Bank in Middle Tennessee. His responsibilities at Regions included the oversight of banking operations in 20 counties and more than $2 billion in assets.Samuels is a founder of the Mid-South School of Banking at Memphis State University and a former board member and chairman of the Tennessee Bankers Association Commercial Lending School. He was honored by the American Institute of Banking’s Memphis chapter as an Honorary Lifetime Board Member and the Nashville chapter as Banking Instructor of the Year. In 1988, he was named the Small Business Financial Services Advocate of the Year for the state of Tennessee.“Not only is Ron a leader in the banking industry, he is a respected leader in the Nashville community,” said TBA president Brad Barrett. “Ron’s commitment to causes that make Nashville a better place is extraordinary.”

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Tags: Avenue Bank, awards, banking, Ron Samuels, Tennessee Bankers Association, trade associations