Story by Lena Anthony
Billy Carroll, president and CEO of East Tennessee-based SmartBank, has been installed as the 2024-2025 chairman of the Tennessee Bankers Association. The ceremony took place at the 134th Annual Meeting, held at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, WV—the exact location where his father, Bill Carroll, assumed the same role in 1997. Billy was in the audience for that occasion; Bill was there for this one.
Carroll is not the first legacy TBA chair—and given the strong family connections that run through Tennessee’s banking community, he thinks he might not be the last.
Before the induction ceremony, Tennessee Banker asked this second-generation banker to reflect on his career so far and discuss his vision for the year ahead. Among his priorities—and passions—is developing the next generation of Tennessee’s banking leaders.
The Origin Story
Carroll didn’t set out to become a banker like his father, who was serving as chairman and CEO of Citizens National Bank in Sevierville by the time Carroll graduated from the University of Tennessee. After earning his accounting degree, he moved to Nashville and started at KraftCPAs.
“I was an accountant for a couple of years, and I really enjoyed that, but I had an opportunity to go back home and work with my dad and I jumped at the chance,” Carroll says. “It turned into a pretty successful run.”
He spent 14 years at Citizens National Bank in a variety of management positions, eventually becoming executive vice president and chief financial officer. While Carroll was instrumental in helping grow the bank, both in number of locations and total assets, which nearly tripled during his time there, he was unable to ignore his entrepreneurial bug that was urging him to start a de novo bank.
SmartBank launched in 2007, with Billy serving as president and CEO and his father acting as chairman of the board and director of business development. In a 2006 article announcing the new bank, Carroll explained how they planned to be true to its name: “We intend to be smart organizers; we’re looking for smart investors; we’re going to implement smart and innovative business practices… and if we do it right, banking with us will be a smart choice.”
Despite launching during a national financial crisis, SmartBank quickly lived up to its name, by focusing on organic growth, strategic acquisitions, and curating a strong company culture.
In 2007, there was one location in Pigeon Forge; today, there are 42 locations in three states. The publicly traded commercial bank boasts 600 associates, has just under $5 billion in assets, and is the fourth largest bank with head- quarters in Tennessee. The Knoxville News Sentinel has named it a “Top Workplace” for the past seven years.
“We’ve been very fortunate,” Carroll says of SmartBank’s stunning success. “People bank with people, so we’ve put a lot of emphasis on recruiting really good bankers. And as a team, we’ve made some really smart decisions, which have allowed us to build a really great bank.”
Among those decisions: Entering smaller—but still thriving—metro markets, like Knoxville and Chattanooga, Auburn and Tuscaloosa in Alabama, and Tallahassee in Florida.
“These are all college towns and that’s by design for us,” he says. “We’ve discovered that college towns have these great economies, because they’re so stable. You don’t get the peaks and valleys in towns like that. The universities are such strong employers and when you have a strong university, that also means you have strong ancillaries, like housing and retail demand.”
Smaller MSAs, including places like Crossville, Tenn., Destin, Fla., and Dothan, Ala., also are part of SmartBank’s reach because of the larger impact the bank can have on those communities.
“We definitely see opportunities in the larger markets and we have a presence there, but I found our model works really well in these slightly smaller MSAs because we can really get in there and be impactful,” he says. “You’re not just one bank among hundreds of others in the market. You can be visible from the start.”
As for what’s next for SmartBank, which just started trad- ing on the NYSE in December 2023, Carroll says they plan to lever the great foundation they’ve built. In addition to adding new markets recently, they’ve also added business lines, including equipment financing, dealer floorplan financing, insurance and wealth management.
“I really like where we are right now,” he says. “It gives us a lot of flexibility and ability to lend, to have a larger credit capacity and limit, and to be able to invest in our people and technology. We plan to leverage all the investments we’ve made over these past couple of years.”
Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders
A priority for Carroll as both SmartBank president and TBA chairman is building a pipeline of strong banking leaders for years to come.
He says Tennessee needs to focus on building a strong banking talent pipeline because “we don’t have a lot of larger banks in our state, which are the ones that have tradition- ally had strong training programs.”
Carroll also worries that banking—particularly com- munity banking—could have an image problem with the younger generation. “It is such a great, rewarding profession, but it just doesn’t stand out to today’s college students when they’re considering their finance job options,” he says. “It’s not as popular as investment banking for example, and that’s hurting us. We need to change that.”
At a minimum, he encourages banks across the state to participate in college career fairs. “We need to get back into the schools and start talking about our industry and all it offers,” he says.
Paid internships, in-house training programs and other “grow your own” initiatives are some of the ways Smart- Bank has taken talent development into its own hands. Carroll admits this is harder for smaller banks to have the resources to do, which is where the TBA comes in.
“Our banking association has one of the best education programs in the country,” he says. “And there are tons of courses and other resources with our Young Bankers Division. As I get the opportunity to go out and visit banks across the state this year as chairman, it’s safe to say folks are going to hear me talk about this a lot.”
In Service
He is planning to use his leadership role also to advocate for a regulatory climate that allows Tennessee banks to be successful.
“The regulatory piece always has to be front and center,” he says. “We’re a regulated business and we welcome that, but at the same time, our banks must be able to generate a profit or shareholders won’t want to invest in banking. That said, I am extremely optimistic about the future of our industry.”
TBA members aren’t the only one who recognize Carroll’s leadership in the banking industry. In January, he was elected to the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, after previously serving on the board of the Nashville branch.
“It has been great being able to sit around a table with some of the best economic minds in our country,” he says. “And having a small voice in helping set monetary policy is such an honor.”
SmartBank’s success, his TBA leadership position and his role with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta—it’s all a reflection of his dedication to the banking industry and community.
“At the end of the day, I try to surround myself with talented people, work hard and represent my company and our industry in the best way I can.”
