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Bob Hatley
President, chief executive officer
Paragon Commecial Bank
Raleigh, N.C.
Bob Hatley is a banker with the heart of an entrepreneur, a quality he needed in order to sell the idea of Paragon Commercial Bank to investors.
He was one of eight regioinal market managers working for what is now RBC Centura when the Banc of Tennessee approached him with the idea of starting a business-only bank.
Hatley took the idea and ran with it - from the kitchen of his home.
Initial funding for Hatley's new financial venture came from the Banc of Tennessee and some wealthy investors that Hatley persuaded to become involved. Hatley made more than 130 one-on-one presentations to potential investors.
In May 1999, Hatley officially opened Paragon with three employees. Less than five years later, Paragon has almost 40 employees.
"We are probably the first bank in the country, certainly in North Carolina,...