Pinnacle Financial Partners named Charissa Sumerlin the firm’s chief credit officer effective immediately. She succeeds Harvey White, who served as interim chief credit officer following the sudden death of Tim Huestis in late 2023. The board of directors unanimously voted to approve Sumerlin’s appointment at its meeting on July 16, 2024.
“Charissa was the clear choice for this role, and we welcome her to Pinnacle’s senior leadership team,” M. Terry Turner, president and CEO of Pinnacle, said. “She has been a critical leader for our credit team as we’ve bolstered our processes to scale for growth. Charissa was also deeply involved in our major re-rating project in the spring of 2022, which gave her a granular understanding of our portfolio. She has the rare combination of experience with both CRE and C&I credit, which gives her a strong understanding of how all our lending and credit teams work. We offer her our sincere congratulations and gratitude for taking this new role.”
Sumerlin joined Pinnacle in 2018 as a commercial real estate credit advisor and then moved into a senior credit officer position for the firm’s Charlotte, NC and South Carolina markets. From there, she led the design and adoption of dual risk rating for commercial credits in 2021. In June 2022, Sumerlin became Pinnacle’s deputy chief credit officer as part of Huestis’ succession plan. Her responsibilities included monitoring and assessment of portfolio risk and concentrations, continuous improvement for reporting, systems and processes and more.
“Charissa is set up for success thanks to her strong predecessors, including Harvey White,” Rob McCabe, chairman of Pinnacle, said. “We’re grateful to Harvey for his service following the sudden and tragic loss of our colleague Tim Huestis. His willingness to step back into his old role ensured we had a steady hand on our credit policy and portfolio during a difficult time in the economy. We thank him for his leadership.”
White has worked in credit for 50 years and at Pinnacle for 15. He was the firm’s chief credit officer from 2009 to 2019, when he moved into the role of regional banking executive in the Knoxville, TN, market. White will continue to work on special projects in the credit arena.
