Green Bankshares announces 70 layoffs

Facing pressure from regulators and dire predictions from analysts, an East Tennessee lender has eliminated dozens of jobs.

James Adams, the outgoing chief financial officer of Green Bankshares, said Friday the company has eliminated about 70 jobs, including loan officers and other employees. According to its most recent annual report, Green Bankshares employed the equivalent of 730 full-time employees at the end of 2010.

‘The size of the organization has shrunk by … over a half-billion dollars since the recession started,’ said Adams, who plans to retire in May. ‘So we went through a right-sizing.’

The company also has made management changes. Adams said the company’s east region market president, former First Security Group President Lloyd ‘Monty’ Montgomery III, has been named interim chief credit officer. Adams said the company will eventually look for a permanent chief credit officer, but not immediately.

The Greeneville-based company and its subsidiary, GreenBank, have been battered by credit problems in recent months. In February, Green Bankshares reported a fourth-quarter loss of nearly $53 million and a full-year loss of $85.7 million, and one analyst wrote that the company’s only remaining options were a recapitalization or a distressed sale.

From: Knox News