First Southern Bank History
On June 19, 1907, The Patterson Bank was chartered and opened its doors for business in Patterson, Georgia with capital stock of $15,000. Sixty-eight years later, in 1975, the bank moved into a new building on Highway 84 in Patterson, Georgia, where it still conducts business today. A second branch office was built eleven years later, in 1986, near Waycross in Pierce County in the Bonneyman community. This office was opened to take advantage of the growing population in Waycross and to comply with the banking regulations at the time restricting branching outside the chartering county. With branching regulations changing, in May of 1998, The Patterson Bank opened its third location, expanding into Jesup, Wayne County. Finally, in the summer of 2008, the fourth location of The Patterson Bank was opened in downtown Waycross. In 2009, the Bonneyman location was closed.
In March of 2013, a recapitalization plan was completed, which brought The Patterson Bank under new ownership. Forty-one individual investors, all from the local community, came together and purchased over 98% of the outstanding shares of the Bank. Until the initial closing of the Bank’s private offering on March 29, 2013, the Bank was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Patterson Bancshares, Inc., a Georgia corporation, registered as a bank holding company. As a result of the completion of the recapitalization of the Bank, as of June 30, 2013, Patterson Bancshares, Inc. held less than 1% of the outstanding shares of the Bank. In conjunction with this new start, the Bank’s name was changed to First Southern Bank and a new Board of Directors was elected.
In February 2019, First Southern Bank raised $16 million in new Capital with the goal of expanding its branch network to Florida. With the increased Capital, FSB was able to open a branch location in the Highlands County market in August 2019 and a Manatee County location in September 2019. On January 3, 2023, we opened another branch location in Stuart, Florida. As of today, First Southern Bank has 6 branch locations and 1 Loan Production Office serving Southern Georgia and West Central Florida.
First Southern Bank is proud to be a true community bank! Our mission is to serve our communities with a level of service superior to our competition. First Southern Bank has been investing in our communities since 1907 and will continue for years to come!
Core Values
Community
First and foremost, we are a community bank. We take pride in giving back to our community in time and resources. When our community is a success - we are successful.
TEAM
Respect sets the tone of our culture. We believe in the importance of treating each teammate as an individual and treating every moment as one that matters. We believe great teams are built on honesty and integrity, mutual trust and accountability.
Relationship
Our customers are at the center of everything we do. We form lifelong relationships with our customers based on trust, dependability and transparency. We believe that long lasting relationships are more valuable than the individual transaction.
Board of Directors and Executive Officers
Board of Directors
Executive Officers
Daniel S. Hager- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
William E. Hughes, Jr. - President Georgia
Kelly H. Ellis - West Florida Market President & COO
John Shoop - President - Central Florida
Michael Turner - EVP and Chief Lending OfficerNews & Events
March 10, 2025
First Southern Bank's 5 Star Rating from Bauer Financial
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
First Southern Bank
Rated 5-Stars for 5 Consecutive Quarters
Waycross, Georgia - March 2025: First Southern Bank, Waycross, GA proudly acknowledges that it has, once again, received a 5-Star Superior rating from BauerFinancial, the Nation’s Premier Bank Rating Firm. A 5-Star Superior rating indicates that First Southern Bank is one of the strongest banks in the nation, excelling in areas of capital, loan quality, profitability and more. This marks the 5th consecutive quarter that First Southern Bank has earned this top rating.
“A lot of things are changing”, reflects Karen L. Dorway, president of BauerFinancial. “Rules and regulations are being retooled, technology is advancing at lightning speed, and it’s easy to feel like you’re getting lost in the fray,” she continues. “People don’t want to feel like that at their bank. When they walk into a branch, they want to feel confident that their deposits are safe, that all rules are being followed, and that their banker understands their specific needs. That’s why it’s so important to have 5-Star rated (Superior) banks, like First Southern Bank, in our communities. We can be confident that they have our hard-earned deposits properly secured.”
First Southern Bank was established in 1907 and has been meeting the specific needs of the people in the communities it serves for 118 years. You can be proud to call First Southern Bank your bank.
Visit fsb-bank.bank.
First Southern Bank: “Community – Team – Relationships!”
Bank and Credit Union data compiled from financial data for the period noted, as reported to federal regulators. The financial data obtained from these sources is consistently reliable, although; the accuracy and completeness of the data cannot be guaranteed by BauerFinancial, Inc. Since 1983, BauerFinancial has relied upon this data in its judgment and in rendering its opinion (e.g. determination of star ratings). BauerFinancial, Inc. is not a financial advisor; it is an independent bank research firm. No institution can pay for or opt out of a BauerFinancial rating. Star-ratings are all available for free at bauerfinancial.com.
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