Proposed Tennessee de novo's organizers hit capital-raising goal

Organizers of the proposed RockPoint Bank in Chattanooga, Tenn., have raised enough capital to open the bank.

The group behind the proposed de novo said in a press release Friday that it brought in $30 million as required by the conditional regulatory approval it received in April. Organizers are renovating the bank’s first branch with an expectation of opening in the first quarter.

“We are grateful for this opportunity that Chattanooga has given us,” Hamp Johnson, who would be the bank’s president and CEO, said in the release. “Our community expects to accomplish extraordinary things and that is one of the reasons we are so proud to be a part of it.”

The bank aims to serve small and midsize businesses, along with their owners and employees, and professionals.

The announcement comes two weeks after Craft Bank opened in Atlanta. Craft, which raised more than $20 million, became the first new bank to open in Atlanta since January 2010.