Branch Spotlight: PlainsCapital’s Denton Team Plants Roots in the Community

The PlainsCapital Bank Denton team’s address may have changed, but they’re definitely not new kids on the block. After serving the Denton community for over two years while officing out of the bank’s Southlake branch, the team now has a temporary, new space in Denton while their permanent location is being built. On August 1, they hit the ground running in their 100 W. Mulberry Street location in Downtown Denton and are happy to be immersed in the community where they have deep roots stretching back more than a decade.

Not Your Average Bank Building

“It’s not your typical bank building,” PlainsCapital Denton president, Ernie McGee explains. “It’s an architect’s office so it’s contemporary looking. It’s stucco with some baby blue and pink on the front. But the inside is traditional and works well for us while our new place is built.”

The 2,000-square-foot branch fits the Downtown Denton vibe, though. McGee and his team of three commercial lenders, a commercial loan assistant, assistant branch manager, and senior teller/customer service representative are glad to call it home.

Georgia Peach Turned Texan

Originally from Georgia, McGee has been a part of the Denton community since moving here in 2008 with BBVA. He joined PlainsCapital in 2020.

“I had worked with a former PlainsCapital employee at BBVA Compass, and he got me in touch with (Texas Region Chairman) Steve Hambrick and (Fort Worth Region Chairman) Mark Warren,” McGee says. “At the time, it just didn’t work out. In early 2020, I called Mark, and he remembered me. I had put the team together and the next day, the world shut down due to Covid. September 2020 rolled around, and I had five team members in five different stages of life. It was the time to make this happen.”

Finding space for a new branch in Denton turned out to be difficult in 2020. So, McGee and his team set up shop from afar out of the Southlake location. Today, they’re happy to finally be back in Denton.

“We’ve got a small, cohesive group,” McGee says. “We work well together. Everybody knows what they’re responsible for, and I don’t have to be too hands-on. It also helps that we all worked together in the past. When I moved here in 2008, Jeanette Hoffman, our loan assistant, was my loan assistant at BBVA. James Posey, our SVP spent the last seven years at Wells Fargo but was with BBVA Compass in Dallas when I was working in the region. Kevin Hodge worked for Compass and eventually joined PlainsCapital with me when I joined. We’ve gotten a really warm reception from everyone in Denton. In two years of being in the market, we’ve only received positive feedback about PlainsCapital.”

Giving Back to the Community

Now that the team is physically located in Denton, McGee is anxious to find new opportunities to get more involved in the community.

While McGee and his wife, who serves as executive director of Our Daily Bread, have been active members of the Denton community for many years, he plans to get PlainsCapital involved in the Heart Walk, too; it’s a cause near to him. He had an aortic valve replaced eight years ago and stays active in supporting causes that help prevent and treat the condition.

“It has to come from the top down,” McGee says. “The fact that PlainsCapital’s executives encourage community involvement, it helps employees want to be involved.”

McGee and his team hope to move into their brand-new, 4,000-square-foot branch at 513 W. Oak Street in about two years. Until then, you can visit them downtown at 100 W. Mulberry Street, Suite 200, Denton, TX 76201.