Banesco USA earned $1.7 million in the second quarter and reported $667.3 million in assets June 30. It is rated B+ by Fitch Ratings.

The bank’s corporate strategic mantra: “the Banesco USA Way: diversified, prudent growth for sustainable profitability.”

Stonegate Bank

Based in Fort Lauderdale, Stonegate also epitomizes a growing, thriving community bank.

It was President and Chief Executive Dave Seleski’s idea to create a new bank, raising $40 million in capital from about 200 investors to start the bank in 2005.

Today, Stonegate has 2,300 investors, and has grown to $906 million in assets as of June 30.

“The goal is to be the primary bank for business — to be a business lender,” Seleski, 47, said. “We are a niche bank.”

Stonegate has made several acquisitions, including some from the FDIC, and expanded its branch network to nine locations, including one in Coral Gables. A 10th branch is scheduled to open in Doral next month. Overall, the bank has 117 employees and operates in Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Collier, Lee and Hillsborough counties.

“Our model is not to have a lot of retail locations,” Seleski said. “Our goal is to invest in technology and people.”

Clients don’t need to visit the bank; they can do their banking online and through remote deposit capture.

The bank’s loan portfolio is diversified, and it added wealth management to its services last year, he said.

Each of its markets is headed by a market president who creates a business plan.

“We have more latitude at the local level,” Seleski said. “We try to be partners with clients to meet their financial goals.”

Stonegate has reported profits for the past 26 quarters. For the second quarter, the bank earned $2.25 million.

“The model does work. We make a lot of money and we plow a lot into growth,” Seleski said.

The bank plans to continue to expand, and will hire about eight more people this year, as it further penetrates its markets. Its goal is to reach $1.5 billion in assets in four years.

“We focused on acquisitions for the last two to three years, because the economy was such that there was not as much opportunity to grow organically,” Seleski said. “Now we’re going back to our roots, and doing it the old-fashioned way: one customer at a time.”