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Stearns Bank
Stearns Bank is a 100-year-old family-owned bank in Charlotte, NC, offering SBA loans, equipment financing, and Islamic banking through its Salaam...
Stearns Bank
Stearns Bank is a family-owned bank with over 100 years of history, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is majority women-owned and employee-owned, a governance structure the firm highlights on its website as a differentiator. The bank operates branches in Minnesota, Florida, and Arizona, and maintains a national commercial lending presence. The bank originates SBA loans, equipment financing, commercial real estate loans, and USDA Rural Development loans. It also offers a dedicated Islamic banking arm, Salaam Banking, whose products are reviewed by an independent Sharia Advisory Board of scholars including Mufti Ibrahim Essa, Shaykh Taha Abdul-Basser, and Mufti Mirza-Zain Baig. The bank serves business accounts, nonprofit banking, and personal deposit products like CDs. Its website reports total impact figures of $1.2B in lending, $1M in donations, $19M in local investments, and 3,000 jobs supported, though these figures are not dated and lack external attribution. The leadership team includes Kelly Skalicky, Heather Plumski, Erika Miller, Pam Bjerke, Amber Gerstung, Marlice Johnson, Isaac Flenner, and Irshad Rasheed. The bank employs an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) structure, making employees owners. Advisory board members include Irshad Rasheed, Heather Plumski, Dr. Aamir Rehman, and Wazmah Sadat. No recent operational events from the last 24 months are publicly documented. The bank’s governance structure—a family-owned bank that is simultaneously majority women-owned and employee-owned—is structurally distinct. The Islamic banking division (Salaam) adds a niche compliance layer not typical in community banks. The firm does not disclose assets under management or total capital, limiting public comparability to other financial institutions.
General information
Firm type
other
Year founded
—
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Charlotte
Corporate office
Charlotte, NC, United States
Principals
Kelly Skalicky
Leadership Team
Heather Plumski
Leadership Team
Erika Miller
Leadership Team
Pam Bjerke
Leadership Team
Amber Gerstung
Leadership Team
Marlice Johnson
Leadership Team
Isaac Flenner
Leadership Team
Irshad Rasheed
Leadership Team / Salaam Banking Division / Advisory Board
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Stearns Bank?
The leadership team includes Kelly Skalicky, Heather Plumski, Erika Miller, Pam Bjerke, Amber Gerstung, Marlice Johnson, Isaac Flenner, and Irshad Rasheed. The website does not assign specific C-level titles, so the decision-making hierarchy among them is not publicly clear (per the firm's website).
Is Stearns Bank structured as a single family office or a bank?
Stearns Bank is a regulated bank, not a family office. It operates as a family-owned, majority women-owned, and employee-owned institution. Its primary activities are commercial lending, deposit-taking, and Islamic banking, not investment management for a single family (per the firm's website).
Does Stearns Bank participate in direct investments or only lending?
The firm presents itself as a commercial lender, not an investment firm. Its offerings include SBA loans, equipment financing, commercial real estate loans, and USDA Rural Development loans. It does not publicly describe making equity investments or fund commitments (per the firm's website).
What investment stages does Stearns Bank typically target?
Stearns Bank does not disclose target investment stages. Its lending products cover startups (SBA loans) as well as established businesses (equipment financing, commercial real estate). The bank's website emphasizes serving 'start ups to stand outs' (per the firm's website).
Which sectors does Stearns Bank explicitly avoid?
The firm does not publish a list of avoided sectors. Its Salaam Banking division restricts products that do not comply with Sharia law, which prohibits interest (riba) and certain industries. However, the bank does not disclose specific excluded sectors (per the firm's website).
Where does the underlying wealth come from?
The firm describes itself as a 'family business' but does not name the founding family or wealth origin. It is majority women-owned, per its website, but does not attribute that ownership to a specific individual or family branch (per the firm's website).
Does Stearns Bank maintain philanthropic structures, and how are they separated?
The firm reports $1M in donations and $19M in local investments, but does not describe a separate foundation or philanthropic entity. The charitable activity appears to be conducted through the bank's own operations (per the firm's website).
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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