ATLANTA, Jan. 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta (FHLBank Atlanta) today announced the results of the election for chair and vice chair of its board of directors.
R. Thornwell Dunlap III, Chair
FHLBank Atlanta board members elected R. Thornwell Dunlap III, president and chief executive officer of Countybank in Greenwood, South Carolina, to a two-year term as chair of FHLBank Atlanta’s board of directors.
Mr. Dunlap has served as president and chief executive officer of Countybank since 1995 and chairman of its holding company, TCB Corporation, since 2001. He is past chairman of the South Carolina Bankers Association Board of Directors and past president of the Independent Banks of South Carolina Board of Directors. Mr. Dunlap is the past chairman of Greenwood Partnership Alliance and served on the Piedmont Technical College Foundation Board of Directors. His past achievements include being named Greenwood County Small Business Person of the Year, South Carolina Ambassador for Economic Development, and South Carolina Outstanding Young Banker of the Year. Mr. Dunlap has served on the Ten at the Top Board of Directors since 2009 and is a founding director. He is also a member and past chair of the Greenwood Rotary club and an elder of First Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Dunlap has been a director of FHLBank Atlanta since 2016. He has served as vice chair of the Bank’s board, chair of the Governance and Compensation Committee, vice chair of the Credit and Member Services Committee, and ex officio member of the other committees of the Bank’s board.
Suzanne S. DeFerie, Vice Chair
FHLBank Atlanta board members elected Suzanne S. DeFerie, member of the board of directors of First Bank, a subsidiary of First Bancorp in Southern Pines, North Carolina, to a two-year term as vice chair of FHLBank Atlanta’s board of directors.
Ms. DeFerie has served as a director of First Bank since 2017. She previously served as president and chief executive officer of Asheville Savings Bank, S.S.B. in Asheville, North Carolina, from 2008 to 2017, and as president and chief executive officer of Asheville Savings Bank’s holding company, ASB Bancorp, Inc., from 2011 to 2017, when the bank and holding company were acquired by First Bancorp. Ms. DeFerie also currently serves as a member of the board of directors for First Bancorp (NASDAQ: FBNC). Ms. DeFerie is licensed as a CPA in North Carolina and formerly served as Senior Audit Manager with Deloitte & Touche. She is a past member of the Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, past chair of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County, as well as a past board member for the Economic Development Coalition of Asheville-Buncombe County, Mission Health System, and Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity. Ms. DeFerie continues to serve the Asheville community on the boards of the Community Betterment Foundation, ANC Health Care, and the Asheville Merchants’ Fund.
Ms. DeFerie has been a director of FHLBank Atlanta since 2015. She has served as chair of the Audit and Finance Committees and vice chair of the Governance and Compensation and Enterprise Risk and Operations Committees of the Bank’s board.
About FHLBank Atlanta
FHLBank Atlanta offers competitively-priced financing, community development grants, and other banking services to help member financial institutions make affordable home mortgages and provide economic development credit to neighborhoods and communities. The Bank’s members are commercial banks, credit unions, savings institutions, community development financial institutions, and insurance companies located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. FHLBank Atlanta is one of 11 district banks in the Federal Home Loan Bank System. Since 1990, the FHLBanks have awarded approximately $7.3 billion in Affordable Housing Program funds, assisting more than one million households.
CONTACT: Peter E. Garuccio
Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta
pgaruccio@fhlbatl.com
404.888.8143
