Pinnacle Opens Full-service Office in Buckhead

Pinnacle Financial Partners has opened its second full-service office in Atlanta at 3379 Peachtree Rd. NE in Buckhead, offering a diverse array of services for personal finance, small business, commercial and wealth management needs.

“This is an exciting development for us,” said regional president Rob Garcia. “Opening the Buckhead office is just the next step in our plans to build a network of offices across the MSA. We’ve built an impressive client base already with just a single office, and we know everyone in the Atlanta area is ready for the distinctive service and effective advice that Pinnacle brings to bear for clients every single day.”  

Experienced office leader Jerry Banks leads the Buckhead team, which includes:

• Aaron Binion, financial advisor
• Christina Herron, client service advisor
• Jennifer Sampson, mortgage advisor
• Tasha Ellis, mortgage advisor assistant
• Sheryle Kelley and Donovan Dillard, financial specialists

Pinnacle’s Buckhead office features the firm’s distinctive contemporary architectural style, with 4,582 square feet of office and meeting space to house its growing team and client base. The floor plan includes a front-line desk for clients’ day-to-day needs, as well as six private offices for associates, and Pinnacle’s signature design elements: a water wall and the Pinnacle Learning Center for meetings, workshops and use by community groups. An ATM in the office’s foyer is available to clients 24/7.

Banks brings 21 years of financial services experience to his role at Pinnacle, most recently as vice president and sales manager at Ameris Bank. He also served in roles at Wachovia, Fifth Third and Colonial and SunTrust Banks, leading teams at 11 branch banking offices and four in-retail-store locations, often serving as a liaison between client service associates and relationship managers. He promoted and trained 17 branch managers into area managers and business and commercial bankers.

Binion joined Pinnacle earlier in 2021 with 17 years of financial services experience, most recently at CenterState Bank in Buckhead where he was a commercial relationship manager. Prior to that he worked at BB&T in the same role and SunTrust in small business banking. Binion began in Savannah, GA, at Capitol City Bank & Trust as a teller in 2004. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Savannah State University, his master’s from Clayton State University and is a graduate of the Georgia Banking School at the University of Georgia.

Like Binion, Herron joins Pinnacle from CenterState Bank in Atlanta, where she was a branch manager for two years. She has 20 years of financial services experience, including work for Seven Seventeen Credit Union and Huntington Bank in Warren, OH. She earned a degree in business administration from Eastern Gateway College in Steubenville, OH.

Sampson brings 12 years of experience to her role as mortgage advisor, most recently as a community mortgage specialist for Truist Financial Corporation in Atlanta. She also has worked for Fidelity Bank in Atlanta as a mortgage deposit coordinator and personal banker. Additionally, Sampson was a real estate agent for seven years. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration management from Georgia State University with a minor in human resources.

Ellis joins Pinnacle from Fidelity Bank/Ameris Bank in Atlanta, where she was a business development officer. She has six years of financial services experience, including roles at Georgia Banking Company, First Landmark Bank and Hyundai Motor Finance in Atlanta, as well as Fifth Third Bank in Columbus, OH. Ellis holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Wilberforce University in Dayton, OH. She is involved in Sandy Springs Young Professionals, Power-Core and Atlanta Professionals under 40.

Kelley brings 30 years of experience to her role at Pinnacle, most recently from Synovus Bank, where she was a senior relationship banker. She joined Synovus in 2004 and had served in roles including head teller and commercial loan assistant. Kelley worked for Bank of Upson from 1987-2004.

Dillard joins Pinnacle from Ameris Bank in Atlanta, where he was assistant branch manager/head teller for five years.

Pinnacle Financial Partners provides a full range of banking, investment, trust, mortgage and insurance products and services designed for businesses and their owners and individuals interested in a comprehensive relationship with their financial institution. Pinnacle earned a spot on FORTUNE's 2021 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For® in the U.S., its fifth consecutive appearance. American Banker recognized Pinnacle as one of America’s Best Banks to Work For eight years in a row and No. 1 among banks with more than $10 billion in assets in 2020.

Pinnacle expanded to Georgia in 2020 by hiring a team of local financial services professionals to start an office in Atlanta.

The firm began operations in a single location in downtown Nashville, TN, in October 2000 and has since grown to approximately $36.5 billion in assets as of Sept. 30, 2021. As the second-largest bank holding company headquartered in Tennessee, Pinnacle operates in 14 primarily urban markets across the Southeast.

Additional information concerning Pinnacle, which is included in the Nasdaq Financial-100 Index, can be accessed at www.pnfp.com.