Bob Hatley started Paragon Commercial Bank in 1998 and has been President and CEO ever since, growing the company from $15 million in assets in 1999 to more than $500 million today.

A native of Concord, Hatley received his BS in Business Administration from Appalachian State University. For the next 14 years, he served with Wachovia Bank as a field rep, a credit manager, a branch manager and a city executive.

From 1988-1998 Hatley worked with Peoples/Centura Bank, serving the last four years as regional market manager of the Wake County commercial market.

Triangle Business Journal wrote that Hatley “led the Triangle office of Centura in its sales-oriented push” and he was “a popular manager, even in changing times.”

Hatley, who was a finalist for the Carolinas’ 2004 and 2005 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year awards, is known for putting together a highly talented and motivated staff committed to serving the client. “If we make our clients successful, then we’ll be successful,” he said.

Hatley has been involved in community service for many years, serving as chairman of the board of the Cary Chamber of Commerce and district chairman of the Dan Beard District of the Boy Scouts of America.

He is also a past president of the Cary Rotary Club and past director of the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce.

In addition, he currently serves on the boards of the Wake County Hospice, the Wake Education Partnership and the Wake Med Foundation.

He is an active member of the Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian Church in Cary where he is a past Elder and Trustee.

He has two daughters – Lauren, who lives in Charleston, S.C. and Paige, who is at graduate school at East Carolina University.  His wife, Carol, has two children, Tanner and Cameron from a previous marriage.