First Green Bank of Eustis’ Chief Financial Officer Melissa Atkins is finalist for CFO of the year award

EUSTIS, Fla. – Melissa Atkins, chief financial officer at First Green Bank of Eustis, was recently named a finalist for the CFO of the year award by Orlando Business Journal, the weekly business publication that serves the Central Florida region.

Kenneth E. LaRoe, chairman and chief executive officer of First Green Bank, said Atkins was a member of the senior management team who founded First Green Bank in 2008 and ranks as one of the region’s most knowledgeable financial officers.

Atkins attended Campbell University in North Carolina and worked her way up the ranks at Florida Choice Bank – LaRoe’s former bank which was also in Lake County – from 2000-2008, prior to the establishment of First Green Bank.

“Melissa is a highly skilled, dedicated financial officer whose integrity, knowledge and judgment are a tremendous asset to First Green Bank,” LaRoe said.

Atkins and First Green Bank colleagues plan to participate in the CFO of the Year awards ceremonies in Orlando in June, and LaRoe said he thinks Atkins has earned the top honors.

“She has played a major role in the success that we have achieved in this market since we opened in 2008,” LaRoe said. “I don’t know of a more qualified chief financial officer in the Central Florida area,” he said.

First Green Bank is one of the first of its kind in the U.S. to focus on positive environmental and social responsibility while operating as a traditional community bank.

First Green Bank has facilities in Eustis and Clermont and plans to open a new 11,000+ square foot LEED Platinum-registered headquarters facility in Mount Dora in June.