Official shareholder business included the re-election
of James F. Freeman, Edwin S. Roberson, Glenn W. Cofield, and Craig L. Weiss to
the Board of Directors.
During the non-official portion of the
meeting, Shaw discussed Paragon’s accomplishments for 2009 against stated goals,
including the improvement of loan portfolio performance, maintenance of a
conservative loan loss reserve, and an increase in non-interest income. In 2009, the bank also continued core deposit
growth momentum, maintained control of expenses, continued to deliver extremely
high customer service quality, and positioned the franchise for future
growth. 2009 highlights included the grand
opening of the Grove Park Banking Center, a strengthening of the executive
management team, and the raising of $500,000 in additional capital.
Other
notable activities in 2009 were Paragon’s implemented plan to substantially
reduce non-performing assets, which are currently at their lowest levels since
September 2008. Paragon also completed
an efficiency study of back-office operations, brought in external loan
professionals to review all performing loans greater than $500,000, and improved
the loan approval process with the addition of an officers’ loan committee.
Paragon and its employees continued to shine in the community in 2009;
Controller Tracey Wilson Thesmar was named to the Memphis Business Journal’s
Top 40 Under 40, Paragon was awarded a Southeast Community Bank GIVE Award and
named a finalist for the Spirit of Giving Awards and Corporate Neighbor Awards.
“Our
key areas to focus on in 2010 remain similar to 2009,” Shaw told
shareholders. “We plan to continue
aggressively dealing with credit issues and continue to build our core earnings
capacity. I anticipate that we’ll see
profitability again soon.”