How it started
History
The company was founded on October 1, 1971 in Moultrie, Georgia as American Banking Company by Eugene M. Vereen, Jr. The bank started with one location and $1 million in capital. Vereen said he "envisioned a bank for the future" that "set out to create a collective mindset that doesn't rely on tired banking norms or cookie-cutter solutions."
In 1979, the company acquired Toney Brothers Bank in Doerun, Ga. In 1980, ABC Holding Company was formed as a parent company to American Banking Company before changing its name to ABC Bancorp in 1986. Sixteen years after its founding, ABC Bancorp became a public company in 1987 via an initial public offering and in 1994 began trading on the Nasdaq. The company changed to its current name of Ameris Bancorp in 2005.
Expansion in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic United States
What started as a regional bank in South Georgia began its expansion into neighboring states in 1996 when it branched into Alabama. Four years later, the bank expanded into Florida. In 2006, the bank expanded into South Carolina and into North Carolina in 2020. The bank now maintains 166 full-service branches in those five states combined, with additional mortgage-only locations in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Tennessee.
Mergers and Acquisitions
From Wikipedia’s article on Ameris Bancorp, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3