Pinnacle Knoxville Reaches $500 Million in Loans

After expanding to the Knoxville market four years ago, Pinnacle Financial Partners has grown to $500 million in loans here.

The financial services firm’s leaders launched in Knoxville in 2007 because they thought they could build a $500 million operation by 2012. Pinnacle hit that milestone at the end of second quarter 2011 last week.

“We’re very grateful to our many Knoxville clients and the Knoxville community for helping us build a half-a-billion dollar bank in record time,” said Nathan Hunter, Pinnacle’s Knoxville president. “Staying true to Pinnacle’s original business model of hiring only veteran financial services professionals who can deliver effective advice and distinctive service has been a major factor in our rapid growth.”

Pinnacle Knoxville started with an office on Northshore Drive and added two more in Farragut and Fountain City. Pinnacle plans to add two additional offices in the area by 2013.

“Nathan and his team have met the high expectations we set when we expanded into the Knoxville market,” said Terry Turner, Pinnacle’s president and CEO. “Achieving this growth milestone shows that clients were looking for a firm with a sophisticated set of services typically found in the regional banks combined with local decision-making power.”

Pinnacle Financial Partners provides a full range of banking, investment, mortgage and insurance products and services designed for small- to mid-sized businesses and their owners and individuals interested in a comprehensive relationship with their financial institution. Comprehensive wealth management services, such as financial planning and trust, help clients increase, protect and distribute their assets.

The firm began operations in a single downtown Nashville location in Oct. 2000 and has since grown to over $4.82 billion in assets at March 31, 2011. In 2007, Pinnacle launched an expansion into Knoxville, Tennessee. At March 31, 2011, Pinnacle is the second-largest bank holding company headquartered in Tennessee, with 31 offices in eight Middle Tennessee counties and three in Knoxville. The firm was also added to Standard & Poor’s SmallCap 600 index in 2009.

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