Central Carolina Bank and Trust
| Industry | Banking |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1961 |
| Fate | Merged with SunTrust Banks in 2005 |
| Headquarters | Durham, North Carolina , United States |
| Products | Banking services |
Number of employees | 3,189 (2004) |
Central Carolina Bank and Trust (CCB) was a bank based in Durham, North Carolina. It was established in 1961 following the consolidation of Durham Bank & Trust with University National Bank of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In 2005, CCB combined with SunTrust Banks headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, which subsequently merged with BB&T to create Truist Financial. The bank’s main office was located in the historic 17-story Hill Building in North Carolina.
History
In 1899, attorney John Sprunt Hill wed Annie Louise Watts, daughter of George Washington Watts, a co-founder of the American Tobacco Company. Together, Watts and Hill founded both Durham Loan & Trust Company and Home Savings Bank, with Hill acting as president and chairman for each institution. Durham Loan & Trust was renamed Durham Bank & Trust in 1931; later, Home Savings Bank merged with Durham Bank & Trust in 1950. The name Central Carolina Bank and Trust Company was adopted in 1961.
During 1964, architect Frank DePasquale suggested incorporating a tobacco leaf into the new CCB sign atop the Hill Building. However, bank chairman George Watts Hill declined this idea, emphasizing the bank’s commitment to financial services over tobacco symbolism. The sign featured four sides displaying only "Roman-style letters, classic and unadorned," constructed from steel finished with white porcelain for longevity. Positioned 270 feet above street level, the 12-foot-tall letters were internally illuminated by white neon lights.
Throughout the 1970s, CCB maintained an operations center located within the BC Remedy Building in Durham.
In 1997, CCB revealed plans for a $325.1 million merger with American Federal Bank from Greenville, South Carolina, which operated 40 branches and held $1.3 billion in assets. This deal increased CCB’s assets to $6.9 billion while preserving the American Federal brand name.
By March 2000, CCB managed 208 branches and assets totaling $8.2 billion when National Commerce Bancorporation (NCBC) of Memphis, Tennessee, parent company of National Bank of Commerce, announced a $1.94 billion acquisition described as a "merger of equals." While NCBC kept its corporate headquarters in Memphis, it designated Durham as its operational headquarters. NCBC chairman Thomas M. Garrott assumed the role of chairman; CCB CEO Ernest C. Roessler became CEO of the combined organization. The newly merged institution had a market capitalization near $4.2 billion, assets amounting to $15 billion, deposits reaching $11.3 billion, and operated 370 branches across eight states.
NCBC operated 162 branches spanning Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, Virginia, West Virginia, Arkansas, and North Carolina and was in the process of acquiring Hillsborough Savings Bank with three branches holding $150 million in assets. Many NBC branches were situated inside Kroger stores; meanwhile, CCB ran twenty-four branches within Harris Teeter supermarkets.
After the merger, the bank used the CCB name within North Carolina and National Bank of Commerce elsewhere.
Following the merger between First Union-Wachovia, on February 15, 2002, twenty-five former First Union and Wachovia branches were converted into CCB locations. This acquisition solidified CCB’s status as the third-largest bank behind BB&T and Wachovia. The parent company renamed itself National Commerce Financial (NCF) and also acquired twelve additional branches in Georgia and Virginia to operate as NBC branches; one branch was sold to First Bank.
In May 2004, NCF announced a merger with SunTrust that would create the seventh-largest banking institution in the United States. At that time, CCB had a workforce of 3,189 employees, approximately 1,300 of whom worked in back-office positions potentially subject to consolidation after the merger. By July 2004, SunTrust planned to maintain 254 branches staffed by around 1,900 employees within its Carolinas division based in Durham—covering territory previously served by CCB—and appointed key executives to oversee this region.
Toward the end of 2004, CCB declared workforce reductions including elimination of 107 mortgage and loan servicing roles along with cutting 293 positions at its Durham operations center following account integrations scheduled for April 2005 when SunTrust branding would replace that of CCB. Some roles were transferred to SunTrust facilities located in Orlando and Knoxville; total net job losses approximated 127 positions.
SunTrust planned to continue using the Hill Building as its Carolinas headquarters but removed the distinctive CCB sign from its rooftop. CEO Phillip Humann committed to upholding CCB’s community banking mission.
In November 2006, after moving to the Diamond View office complex downtown Durham, SunTrust sold the Hill Building to Greenfire Development for $4.1 million while intending to maintain a branch presence there.