Decision Makers
Board of Directors
A career banker, Walt Standish joined Beach First National Bank as its president and chief executive officer in March 2000. Prior to joining Beach First, he served Bank of America and its predecessors in various capacities for 25 years. Standish is a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a B.S. degree in Business Administration. He also is a graduate of the South Carolina Bankers School and the University of Virginia Commercial Lending School. In the community, he serves on the board of directors of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and is its Membership Division Chair. He is also active in United Way of Horry County.
Leigh Ammons Meese, 37, is the president of Sea Mist Resort and Family Kingdom Amusement Park. Admitted to the South Carolina Bar in 1995, Ms. Meese was an associate with Bellamy, Rutenberg, Copeland, Epps, Gravely & Bowers, PA, until joining the family business in spring 1997. She has been a director of our Company and our bank since 2001.
Gary S. Austin joined Beach First national Bancshares, Inc. in August 2007 and currently serves as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Mr. Austin has over 31 years of experience in the financial industry. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, and holds a Masters in Business Administration from Cleveland State University.
He belongs to several professional organizations including Financial Executives International and the American Institute of CPAs. He began his career in Cleveland, Ohio as a staff accountant at Kopperman & Wolf Company, a local public accounting firm. Austin then joined National City Corporation, also in Cleveland, Ohio, as a tax accountant in 1979. Austin remained with National City Corporation for more than 20 years, advancing through the accounting, finance, and risk functions to reach the rank of senior vice president. He next served RBC Centura Banks, Inc. in Rocky Mount, North Carolina as corporate risk manager from 2000-2003. From 2003 to 2006, Mr. Austin joined Main Street Banks, Inc. in Covington, Georgia as executive vice president, before forming a financial consulting firm in 2006 specializing in risk and financial management solutions.
Julien E. Springs joined Beach First National Bank in February 2001, and currently serves as executive vice president and business development officer. He has more than 27 years of experience in banking and loan production in the Myrtle Beach area. Mr. Springs previously served The Anchor Bank as a senior vice president and was its city executive for the Myrtle Beach market for four years.
A native of Myrtle Beach, Mr. Springs is chairman of the Grand Strand Regional Medical Center’s board of directors. He also serves as a member of the boards of directors of the Grand Strand YMCA and the Myrtle Beach Downtown Redevelopment Corporation. He is a life time member of the First United Methodist Church. Springs received a B.S. degree in Business Administration and Banking and Finance from the University of South Carolina and completed the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University. He also attended the Robert Morris Associates Commercial Lending School.
Katie Huntley is a founder of Beach First National Bank and serves as executive vice president and chief credit officer. She also serves as assistant secretary of the corporation and the bank. She has more than 33 years of experience in administrative banking and finance, including 20 years of senior banking experience on the Grand Strand. Prior to joining Beach First, Huntley was a vice president and team leader for Bank of America.
Huntley attended Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia and is a licensed insurance agent in South Carolina. She has served as past president of the Eastern Carolina Chapter of RMA and the Coastal Business Women’s Network. She has also served as chairwoman of the Better Business Bureau of Coastal Carolina, Inc. She is a member of the board of directors of the American Red Cross, Horry County Chapter, and the South Carolina Community Bankers Council.
Michael Bert Anderson , 48, is a managing partner in the Oceana Resorts group, which manages approximately 2,000 rental units in the Grand Strand area. Mr. Anderson is a partner in Strand Capital, which has acquired or developed $1.5 billion in coastal real estate extending north from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to Carolina Beach, North Carolina. Mr. Anderson also serves on the boards of the Downtown Redevelopment Corporation of Myrtle Beach and the Waccamaw Regional Transit Authority. He has been a director of our Company and our bank since our formation in 1995.
B. Larkin Spivey, Jr., 68, is president of Birch Canoe Campground, Inc., which owns a Kampgrounds of America ( KOA ) franchised camping resort. He is the general manager of Spivey Company, LLC, managing commercial real estate in Myrtle Beach and Conway, South Carolina. He is also a Christian writer and speaker, and author of God in the Trenches (Allegiance Press, 2001) and Miracles of the American Revolution (Allegiance Press, 2004). He has been a director of our Company and our bank since our formation in 1995.
B. Larkin Spivey, Jr. is President of Birch Canoe Campground, Inc., which owns a Kampgrounds of America (“KOA”) franchised camping resort. He is the general manager of Spivey Company, LLC, managing commercial real estate in Myrtle Beach and Conway, South Carolina. He is also a Christian writer and speaker, and author of God in the Trenches (Allegiance Press, 2001) and Miracles of the American Revolution (Allegiance Press, 2004). He has been a director of our holding company and our bank since our formation in 1995.
E. Thomas Fulmer, 59, is the owner of Beachcomber Realty, a North Myrtle Beach real estate firm that specializes in sales, rentals, and time-shares. Prior to founding Beachcomber Realty in 1985, Mr. Fulmer worked in the banking industry, serving the former First Palmetto Bank as a senior vice president and member of the board of directors. He has been a director of our Company and our bank since 2003.
James C. Yahnis, 53, is an owner of The Yahnis Company, a beverage wholesale company in Myrtle Beach and Florence, South Carolina. Mr. Yahnis was previously in the real estate appraisal business for more than 15 years, and has been active in beverage wholesaling for 15 years. He also serves as chairman of the executive board of the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation. Mr. Yahnis has been a director of our Company and our bank since our formation in 1995.
Dr. Joe N. Jarrett, Jr. is a board certified orthopaedic surgeon with Strand Orthopaedic Consultants, LLC, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and has been practicing medicine for more than 25 years. He has been a director of our company and our bank since our formation in 1995.
Michael Bert Anderson, 49, is a managing partner in the Oceana Resorts group, which manages approximately 2,000 rental units in the Grand Strand area. Mr. Anderson is a partner in Strand Capital, which has acquired or developed $1.5 billion in coastal real estate extending north from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to Carolina Beach, North Carolina. Mr. Anderson also serves as chairman of the board of the Downtown Redevelopment Corporation of Myrtle Beach. He has been a director of our Company and our bank since our formation in 1995.
Michael D. Harrington is president and general manager of Harrington Construction Company, Inc., a Myrtle Beach general contracting firm organized in 1979. He has been a director of our company and our bank since our formation in 1995.
Bartlett Buie is a certified public accountant who owns and operates the accounting firm Bartlett Buie, CPA, PA, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. A certified public accountant since 1974, Mr. Buie has more than 30 years experience in business. He has been a director of our company and our bank since our formation in 1995.
Richard E. Lester practices real estate law with the firm of Lester, Lester, & Harwell, P.A., and was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in 1969. A retired municipal judge for the City of Myrtle Beach, Mr. Lester has been a director of our holding company and our bank since our formation in 1995.
Rick H. Seagroves is the owner and chief executive officer of Southeast Restaurants Corporation, which operates 40 Pizza Hut restaurants in eastern South Carolina. Mr. Seagroves has served in the franchise restaurant business for nearly 30 years. He has been a director of our company and our bank since our formation in 1995.
Samuel Robert Spann, Jr. has served as president and chief executive officer of Spann Roofing and Sheet Metal, Inc., since 1975. He has been a director of our company and our bank since our formation in 1995.
