Samuel R. “Sammy” Small Jr., President and CEO of First Palmetto Financial Corporation and President of First Palmetto Bank, has joined the Board of Directors of Business Development Corporation (BDC).
Small joined First Palmetto as general counsel in 2006 and was named President of First Palmetto Bank in 2015, President of the holding company in 2018, and CEO in 2019.
First Palmetto was founded in 1904 as the Wateree Building & Loan Association and now is one of the largest locally owned, full-service financial institutions headquartered in South Carolina, with 23 branches across the state. Newsweek recently named Camden-based First Palmetto as the state’s best small bank in the magazine’s first such listings.
“I look forward to helping small businesses across the state achieve their goals with BDC. A successful business community is essential to the economic health of our market and I’m excited to be asked to play a role in ensuring it can continue to thrive,” said Small, a graduate of the University of South Carolina Moore School of Business and University of South Carolina School of Law.
“First Palmetto Bank has been a well-respected community bank for many years. We’re very pleased that Sammy has agreed to bring his exceptional perspective to the BDC board,” Peter G. Shand, BDC President and CEO.
BDC is a non-bank commercial lending company that specializes in U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loan programs and the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). The company is headquartered in Columbia, SC, and primarily serves the state of South Carolina and the Southeastern U.S.
