Gill, president and chief executive officer of First State Bank, is not the only one to notice th... Henry banks boom amid area

Gill, president and chief executive officer of First State Bank, is not the only one to notice that banks are blooming in this Southside county.

In the past five years, the number of bank branches in Henry County has nearly doubled, from 29 to 53, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The 83 percent increase is far ahead of any other county in metro Atlanta. During this time span, the number of banking institutions in Henry has risen from 13 to 19.

"There's one here. There's one there. They're all over the place," said Robert Henry, 73, on a recent afternoon as he walked inside a Bank of America branch on Keys Ferry Road in McDonough.

He wasn't kidding. On the same side of the street is a Wachovia. A block east is a First State Bank branch and a McIntosh State Bank. Nearly directly across the street from the Bank of America is the First Bank of Henry County.

Its population has risen 40 percent, to 167,700, since 2000, according to the Atlanta Regional Commission; Henry is the fourth-fastest-growing county in the nation in terms of housing, says the U.S. Census Bureau.

Expansive and expensive golf course communities are sprouting throughout the county. Median household income for 2002, the most recent year available, was $57,788, compared with $50,964 for the Atlanta region.

The combination of the branch boom and demographics has led to a sizable buildup of deposits. The branches in Henry had a combined $1.6 billion of deposits as of June 30, up 63 percent from $982.5 million in 2000, the FDIC says.

Bankers say they circulate a lot of money back into the community. Gill, for instance, says his bank has made about $500 million in loans, mostly to applicants in Henry.

The banks also work with schools. At Austin Road Elementary School, Washington Mutual has set up a program for students to open savings accounts. Every other Wednesday, the students bring envelopes with their money to bank employees, teaching the young people the importance of saving money, says Principal Pam Consolie. A SunTrust employee comes to the school once a week to read to children.

But Gary Peacock, president and chief executive officer of SunTrust Banks' Atlanta operations, which has 10 offices in Henry County, rejects such an idea, saying the company has long-range plans to open more branches in the county. "It appears we're growing appropriately, and we're pleased with what we're seeing," he said.

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