Jacksonville-based Community First Credit Union eyes first out-of-state expansion through bank deal (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — Days away from the New Year, there’s just one thing top of mind for Sam Inman (pictured above): team culture.
The Community First Credit Union president and CEO is closing out his first full year at the helm — a year spent with his foot always on the gas.
By mid-2026, Community First will significantly expand its asset base and geographic footprint with the expected close of its acquisition of FSBH Corp., parent company of Georgia-headquartered First Southern Bank.
Both organizations have signed a definitive agreement but the proposed acquisition hinges on the approval of regulators. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. If approved as anticipated, Community First will grow beyond Florida for the first time in its 90-year history — allowing the Jacksonville-headquartered institution to tap into the growth of Georgia.
“What I came to realize when I met Dan (Hager), their CEO, is it really is truly a community bank,” said Inman of First Southern. “They’re embedded in their communities as well and this is where we’re going to be able to amplify the influence of what they were doing in their markets.”
Currently, First Southern has seven branches, four in Southeast Georgia and three in Central Florida. It holds roughly $300.3 million in deposits, according to the latest FDIC data.
The combined entity will hold approximately $3.3 billion in assets, $2.5 billion in loans and $2.9 billion in member shares and deposits across 31 total branches. It will continue to rep the Community First brand.
Initially announced in mid-November, Community First’s acquisition is one of many unveiled this year, including multiple with Jacksonville impacts.
Between Pinnacle Financial Partners $8.6 billion merger with Synovus Financial Corp. and Fifth Third Bank’s acquisition of Comerica Inc. — each expected to close early next year — Community First is one of a few.
To Inman, the mergers and acquisitions landscape during 2025 signaled a paradigm shift during an era of consolidation for the financial industry.
“I don’t want to date myself, but there were multiple 1,000s of credit unions and community banks when I first started my career,” he said. “There’s less than 5,000 in each industry now.”
But for Community First, Inman sees a clear path forward. His plan for what’s next begins and ends with his employees — team members, as he calls them.
Cultural alignment between the pair of financial institutions was a key driving factor in the deal, Inman told the Business Journal, as both organizations aim to add more value to each of the communities they serve.
Sometimes mergers and acquisitions come about because there’s a weaker financial institution being taken over by a stronger one, Inman said, but emphasized how that wasn’t the case with Community First and First Southern.
The goal is to retain 100% of both its staff and First Southern’s staff. Combined, the organization is expected to employ roughly 530 people.
Though no plans are set in stone today, Community First is looking toward more growth across the Sunshine State, off the back of this acquisition.
St. Johns, Nassau and Clay counties were all areas pinpointed by Inman for potential additional branches, with three set to open by the end of next year already.
“It’s another opportunity to infuse more capital resources and more lending capabilities, more deposit capabilities, in those markets where they’re serving,” he said. “As a $330 million bank, there’s thresholds and commercial lending they can’t tap into. With us, those thresholds will be lifted.”
Photo courtesy of Community First Credit Union