Kessel D. Stelling, Jr., BBA 1978

President and CEO, Bank of North Georgia
Regional CEO, Atlanta Market, Synovus
Topic: "Managing Through Tough Times"
February 18, 2010
Webcast

Kessel D. Stelling, Jr. began his banking career with First Railroad and Banking Company in Augusta where he worked for 11 years. He served as Senior Vice President of First National Bank of Cobb County from 1985 to 1990 and then as Executive Vice President of The Chattahoochee Bank in Marietta, Georgia, from 1990-1994. He then took a brief sabbatical from banking to serve his community as the interim CEO of the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce.

In 1996 Stelling, along with an investor group, acquired a controlling interest in Cobb American Bank, changed the name to Riverside Bank, and over the next ten years, grew the bank into the largest community bank headquartered in Cobb County. In March 2006 Riverside Bancshares, Inc. was sold to Synovus Financial Corp., headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, and Riverside Bank merged with Bank of North Georgia to form one bank under the Bank of North Georgia name.

Stelling currently serves as President and CEO of Bank of North Georgia with over $5.5 billion in assets. In 2008, he was promoted to Synovus Regional CEO for the Atlanta market.