Thanks, Erica. Morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for SmartFinancial second quarter 26 earnings webcast and conference call.

During today's call, we will reference the slides and earnings release available in the Investor Relations section of our website at smartbank.net. Billy Carroll, our President and Chief Executive Officer, will begin the call followed by Ronald Gorczynski, our Chief Financial Officer, who will provide additional commentary.

We will be available after the call to answer your questions Our comments today include forward looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially.

Factors that could cause these actual results to differ materially are described in our earnings release and SEC filings, which are available on our website. We undertake no obligation to update any forward looking statements as a result of new information future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

During today's call, we may reference non GAAP financial measures related to the company's performance. Reconciliations of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in the appendices to the earnings release and investor presentation filed with the SEC on 07/20/2020 And now I will turn it over to Billy Carroll.

Thanks, Nate, and good morning, everyone. Great to be with you.

And thank you for joining us today and for your interest. in SMBK.

As usual, I will open up our call with some commentary and hand it over to Ronald to walk through the numbers in some greater detail. After our prepared comments, we will open it up with Ronald, Nate, Rhett Miller, and myself available for Q&A.

We followed a strong first quarter with an even better second quarter as our team continued to build outstanding organic momentum. The foundation we have worked so hard to build over the past several years is clearly demonstrating its strength as we continue to grow operating leverage.

Our team's focus on this execution remains outstanding, and the second quarter of 26 yet another clear example of that. So let me jump right into some of our highlights.

First, and as I always say, 1 of the most important metrics to me, we continue to increase the tangible book value of our company. Which is now at $28.22 per share up from $26.86 at year end.

For the quarter, we posted operating earnings of $16.3 million or $0.96 per diluted share with total revenue coming in at $55.9 million. We continue to execute with outstanding growth on both sides of the balance posting 15% annualized growth in loans and 6% annualized growth in core deposits.

Our history of strong credit continues, with only 23 basis points in nonperforming assets, down 2 basis points from the prior quarter. I am very pleased with our credit performance and our extremely low level of NPAs.

And operating noninterest expenses also came in on target at just under $34 million as we continue to exhibit our expense discipline. Looking at the first few pages in the deck, you will see our continuation of some very nice trends.

We are building on our return metrics and, most importantly, growing total revenue EPS and TBV. All of those charts are great graphics to illustrate our execution.

So a couple of additional high level comments from me. On growth our balance sheet expansion continues.

We are building a strong foundational sales culture, led by our divisional and regional presidents along with their collaborative credit leadership. The work of these teams has been outstanding.

And the energy and hustle they exhibit as they focus on new client acquisition is exciting to see. I continue to believe we are among a select top-of-class group of top performing banks when it comes to pure organic growth.

As I stated, we grew our loan book 15% annualized quarter over quarter, as sales momentum stayed strong and balanced across all of our regions. Our average portfolio yield, including fees and accretion, held up well at 6.07%.

Regarding deposits, again, core deposits were up 6% annualized. Even with some expected second quarter seasonality, we continue to drive nice core deposit growth.

it is important to note how we are building this bank with core relationships as we have a keen focus on both sides of the balance sheet. A couple of other key highlights noted in the release bullets include crossing the $6 billion in asset mark.

Another nice milestone for our team as we grow strategically and profitably. And as I mentioned, our tangible book value per share grew at 13% annualized for the quarter.

But in addition to great numbers, I am also very proud of our great place to work recertification. It is great to be recognized for the outstanding culture we are building and the tireless work of our associates in these efforts.

As you can see, we are gaining leverage but also gaining momentum. And we are balancing that with appropriate investment in our franchise.

We will keep investing in people, technology, and strategically in facilities. But do so while maintaining positive leverage.

We are seeing some nice opportunities right now with the disruption taking place in the Southeast. And we want to take advantage of that.

The franchise we have built is positioned to effectively compete for business against larger regional players, but also nimble enough to flex down when we need to. it is a pretty nice position to be in.

Gaining share and getting deeper in these great markets continues to be our primary focus. So all in all, a very nice way to wrap the first half of 26.

So I am gonna stop there and hand it over to Ronald to dive into some details for us. Ronald?

Thanks, Billy, and good morning, everyone. I will start by highlighting some key deposit results.

During the quarter, we continued our momentum in client relationship expansion and new account growth. Nonbroker deposits grew $83 million while new deposit reduction costs increased 8 basis points to 2.90%.

While our deposit growth was strong, loan growth of $165 million exceeded deposit production, resulting in the use of $106 million of short term brokered deposits. Seasonal activity reduced noninterest bearing deposits to 17% of total deposits reflecting normal second quarter activity including cash use for tax payments.

We also experienced some portfolio mix shift as clients continue to optimize balances between interest bearing and noninterest bearing accounts. Even with these dynamics, interest bearing deposit costs rose just 2 basis points to 2.62%.

And liquidity remained strong with a loan to deposit ratio of 87%. Looking ahead, we expect competition for deposits to remain elevated which may continue to pressure funding costs in the near term.

Turning to our margin. Net interest income was $48.1 million up $2.2 million from the first quarter and our net interest margin expanded to 3.52% compared with 3.48% last quarter.

The margin improvement was driven by asset yields outpacing the modest increase in funding costs Loan yields increased 5 basis points assisted by new production coming on above the portfolio yield continued loan portfolio repricing activity and higher loan fees from certain loan prepayments. Excluding loan prepayment fees, our normalized net interest margin was 3.48% for the quarter, in line with our expectations.

New loan production remained steady with a weighted average yield of 6.40% for the quarter. Overall, our margin story continues to be about disciplined pricing, good balance sheet management, and the benefit of loan pricing this rate environment.

Looking ahead, we expect continued improvement in asset yields to support modest margin expansion over time. However, near term deposit cost pressure may reduce third quarter margin by a few basis points which would result in a forecasted margin in the 3.45% range.

Turning to credit. Our provision for credit losses was $1.9 million down from $3.2 million last quarter.

After a $392 thousand reduction in the liability for unfunded commitments, total provision expense was $1.5 million primarily from loan growth. As a reminder, the higher provision last quarter was driven by CECL modeling changes that we discussed on our prior earnings call.

Our allowance to loans ratio remained stable at 97 basis points which we believe is appropriate for the portfolio and current environment. As Billy had mentioned, our asset quality metrics remain strong, with nonperforming assets of just 0.23% of total assets while net charge offs were limited to 5 basis points.

We remain confident in the quality of our loan portfolio and in the discipline our bankers and credit team continue to demonstrate as we grow. Operating noninterest income was stable at $7.9 million for the quarter, Higher mortgage banking income and stronger interchange and debit card fees helped offset lower capital markets revenue.

On expenses, operating non interest expenses increased slightly at $34 million, the low end of our guidance. This increase was primarily driven by salary and benefit expenses reflecting stronger production related variable compensation and a full quarter's expense from our annual merit increases.

FDIC insurance expense also returned to its normalized run rate. Our operating efficiency ratio remained in the low 60% range.

We do expect some expense growth as we invest in our expanding markets including some branch facility expansion, but we will continue to manage the broader expense base carefully and remain focused on improving efficiency over time. For the third quarter, we expect noninterest income to be approximately $8 million and noninterest expense is expected to be in the range of $34.5 to $35 million Salary and benefit expenses are expected to range from $21 to $21.5 million reflecting both stronger production levels and related incentive compensation and additional new hires.

As always, incentive based compensation accruals will move with performance and may vary throughout the year. I will wrap up with capital.

Our capital position remains strong, with a consolidated TCE ratio of 8% and total risk based capital ratio of 12.7% well above well capitalized standards. This position provides flexibility to support growth maintain balancing strength and continue building long term shareholder value.

With that said, I will turn it back over to Billy.

Thanks, Ronald. As you can tell from Ronald's comments, our trends continue to have a nice trajectory.

We are successfully executing on the leveraging phase of growth for our company. And on return metrics, we have moved through the 1% ROA target and feel good about seeing that 13% plus number on ROE.

You have heard me discuss on our last couple of calls our internal 4x4 challenge. hitting a $4 EPS run rate by the fourth quarter of 26.

So basically hitting $1 per share EPS by Q4 of this year. This quarter has been an excellent step toward reaching this target.

We still got a little bit of work to do as higher funding might pressure margin a bit more than expected but I really like our chances. Of accomplishing this goal.

The second half of 26 will probably look a lot like the first half. With focus on organic growth.

And increasing share in our markets. Pipelines are very solid, I think we can continue growing at a high single digit plus pace or possibly a little better.

Talent acquisition continues to be a high priority for our company. The current market disruption is opening the door, and over the last few months, we have added some great bank talent in Nashville, Tennessee Huntsville, Alabama Tallahassee, Florida, and Columbus, Georgia.

We are seeing this opportunity throughout our footprint. And speaking of specifically on Columbus, we are thrilled with what that team is doing right out of the gate.

And we are not even in our permanent facility yet. We are very bullish on this new market.

So we will continue to look for these organic growth opportunities and remain very focused on recruiting. Believe we have a lot to offer talented bankers.

As we continue to be 1 of the brightest banking stories in the Southeast. Outstanding markets that grow paired with strong, experienced bankers and a very focused team.

To summarize, we have had a very solid first half of 26, and we are very well positioned. We are executing.

Growing revenue, EPS and book value while staying prudent on expense growth. We remain optimistic about our ability to add balance sheet growth and still have a nice tailwind coming from rate resets in our loan portfolio over the coming quarters.

Credit continues to be very sound, And on goal setting, we are executing on this year's 4x4 initiative. As we have clear line of sight to a $4-plus earnings per share target.

Our future is bright, and I appreciate the work of our smart financial smart bank team all the efforts of our associates. I am very proud of what we have going on here at SMBK.

We will stop there and open it up for questions.

Hey. Good morning.

Good morning, guys. Hey, Brett.

Wanted to start I wanted to start on just obviously really strong balance sheet growth this quarter. Wanted to start on the deposit side and just if I heard you correctly, Ronald, I think you said 2.9% cost of new deposits.

Was that the right number? And then just wanted to get a little more color around, you know, the narrative that everyone's talking about with deposit costs possibly increasing from here.

Just how you guys see that affecting possibly your growth and what you are seeing in terms of new funding?

Yeah. Ronald, you want to start with the with the spot yield question?

Yeah. Yeah, Brett, our production for Q2 was 2.90%.

Less brokered, we were you know, we were always modeling a 1 to 2 basis point increase in our cost going forward. I think the lower guidance, possibly lower guidance this quarter you know, we did lay in some brokered fundings for our strong loan growth.

While brokered funding does carry a higher cost, we view it as a discipline and temporary tool for our funding. So the most part, we are still looking, you know, we are going forward.

We are looking about 1.5 to 2 basis points per month. At least for Q3.

Then we think we will back that up as we can increase our deposit production and wean off the, brokerage side of it.

I will also add, Rhett, you know, we like I said, we I will tell you. The deposit just pure deposit production has really been pretty solid for us.

Yeah, a little bit of a gap I alluded to it too. We get a little bit of little bit of seasonality In Q2.

We do think when you look at our trends historically, we make up a lot of that gap in the second half of the year. So, yeah, I think we are we are optimistic hoping we can come in at a at a pretty good clip as some of that seasonality then that balance growth picks back up.

But yeah. And I think you alluded to other comments that you have heard on growth.

I think it is. I mean, obviously with rates staying a little bit higher, deposit growth, pressure has been probably a little more prevalent than we had originally thought.

But it is not anything that we do not feel like we can manage. We may just you know, margin as Ronald said, margin might just be a little flatter as you as you look out for the next quarter, but still feel good about our ability expand that going forward.

Okay. that is helpful.

And then just, you know, Billy, you have kind of talked about, you know, feeling pretty comfortable being a high-single-digit grower and possibly better. But, obviously, the last 2 quarters in particular have been a lot stronger than that.

Does the pipeline suggest you could continue to have that and maybe you are just being a little cautious with you know, payoffs or lending. Lending competition on rate, you know, possibly being a factor.

Maybe if you could just give any thoughts on double- versus high-single-digit.

Says the same. Yeah.

No. Miller says I sandbag a little bit, but I really we do build.

We try to build in, some payoffs and paydowns into those into those modeling assumptions. And of the things we have-- we have been really good at is especially a lot of this back book repricing.

I think we built in a little less-- a little lower percentage of that of that retention. We are getting a lot of retention.

In that back book reprice. And so teams are doing a really nice job elevating those yields at renewal, and we are keeping a lot and we are keeping most of that business.

Yeah. I mean, rate competition is still tough.

Right now, we are just looking at pipelines before the call just to kind of refresh our numbers, and we feel good about the pipelines. I will tell you.

You know, and I alluded to it. I mean, the sales teams, you know, and credit teams, I said that too, I think a lot of the credit of this goes to our credit team, the collaboration that we are working together and you know, trying to get to trying to get these deals in and through the pipeline.

Really good about our ability to keep doing that. And but yeah, I still think we could be at that, you know, plus/minus 10% number, just depending on payoffs and paydowns.

it is all across the markets too, is not it? It is.

Yeah. it is great.

it is it is, it is-- it is pretty equally balanced across the zones. I will tell you, all of our markets, all of our teams are executing really well right now.

Okay. Great.

Great quarter, guys. Thanks so much.

Thanks, Brett. Thanks, Brett.

Hey, good morning, gentlemen. Wanted to follow-up good morning.

On the margin discussion. Maybe the flip side to Brett's question, just get some help for where directionally you would expect loan yields to head from here level set us in terms of where new production came on in 2Q, kinda where that pipeline yield sits today would be helpful.

Yeah. Ronald, you want to take that?

Yeah. We have been yeah.

that is a good question. We have been consistently in the 6-- you know, new production bringing on at about the 6.40% range.

We think we believe that will continue. Basically, due to the portfolio churn, we think we should be able to increase our portfolio yields probably 3 to 4 basis points quarterly from here on for the next few quarters.

that is even though, you know, Q3 may be flat, we see further expansion as we look into the future. So we are we are we are in a good spot with our with our loan book.

that is helpful, Ronald. Thank you.

And then for my follow-up, guys, appreciate the near term expense outlook. But perhaps kind of more intermediate term as you guys think about balancing franchise investment and talent, sounds like you have made some great strides in as well as, you know, potentially tech How should we think about a normalized core expense growth rate for Smart Bank with that goal of delivering positive operating leverage?

Yeah. You wanna maybe talk a little bit about just kind of the expense growth forecast or thoughts over the next few quarters, and I will add some color to it.

Yeah. For Q3, you know, we did see an uptick You know, variable compensation due to our production is always there.

We do have layered in some new hires and support growth. And we see that incrementally throughout.

Q3. We do have some seasonality in our expenses.

Primarily occupancy, going through the hot summer months here down in our footprint. And then normal forecasting ebbs and flows due to franchise growth, We are looking to keep our expenses within a 35 million plus or minus range over the next quarter or 2.

But again, that is all subject to our production-related, you know, production related comp. But, we watch expenses pretty tightly here.

Yeah. And I will just add, Russell.

You know, this is something I know Ronald and I spend a lot of time talking about it. And we communicate it with our team, I think, to the key to it now is to kind of keep a fairly tight band on that while continuing to make the appropriate investments.

Like we said, yeah, I think we can do that over the next several quarters. As, you know, as we get, you know a new branch or 2 in the system and add a couple of revenue producing hires in some of our zones.

So, you know, feel really good about our ability to do that. You know, we also have, again, in like, Nate put a nice slide in the deck on our repricing.

I do think we have still got some we have still got some nice tailwind coming second half. Especially as you look into Q4 with rate resets on the back book.

And then into the first part of 2027. So yeah, we think the revenue side is gonna continue to keep pace and allow us to keep that positive leverage going.

that is great, guys. Appreciate all the help.

Thanks for taking my question. Thanks, Russell.

Thanks. Good morning.

Hey, Catherine.

Good morning, Catherine.

Wanted to could you I know you speak to this, but the loan fees that were in loan yields this quarter, can you repeat what that impact was?

Yeah. We had a specific relationship that it was an acquired loan that we had a credit mark embedded in the in the amount.

So when it paid off, we accreted that through the income. Isolated, but a decent amount.

It equated to about 500 thousand or 4 to 500 thousand.

Okay. Perfect.

4 basis points for you. Is it easy?

I am sorry. 4 basis points.

Apologize.

Okay. 4 basis points.

And that is 4 bps to the NIM or 4 bps to loan yields?

It was to loan yield. Okay.

Perfect. So it is way I think about that is you-- you strip that out, but then you have got kind of core expansion next order.

You are you are kind of stable at this level. Into next quarter.

Is that kind of fair way to think about it?

Yes. Catherine.

Perfect. And this is a bigger picture question.

I mean, you are well on your way to your $1 EPS target in the fourth quarter. You have hit a 1% ROA and you are at this 13 ROE.

Is the way to think about you know, you have been such a great story of profitability improvement over the past 1.5 years, and you have hit all these targets. Is the path from here that we are just kind of stable at these profitability levels, but with really strong, you know, 10% balance sheet growth.

Or do you see other ways to improve profitability levels over the course of the year?

Yeah. No, I think we continue to improve, especially as you look out especially, Catherine, as you look out into 2027, So as we look, it obviously, tougher to forecast, not knowing exactly what rates are going to do, but you know, from our standpoint, over the next 4 quarters or so, we think we can continue to expand that ROA number I think, you know, we are gonna continue to pick up some EPS growth continue to move those ROA targets a little bit higher.

And so feel like as we look ahead and think about, you know, already starting to think a little bit about 2027, that we still got some we still got some room to move up. And, you know, as long as the team we continue to as we talked about, hold expenses within a reasonable range and pick up this the repricing plus the new growth, we can expand these return targets a little bit here in the near term.

Term.

Brett. Okay.

Thank you. Brett quarter, Brett.

Bye. Thanks, Catherine.

Yes. Good morning, everyone.

I am kind of following up a little bit on Catherine's question there. The positive momentum over the last couple of years has been tremendous.

Think you said earlier, Bill, you feel like you are even gaining momentum today. So is there anything out there that would give you pause about something that would maybe derail that momentum or just, you know, are you getting to a point where capacity becomes strained at any point, or what would kind of stop this positive momentum, if anything?

Stephen, that is a good question. You know, I really yeah.

Obviously, at something outside of our control being some sort of a you know, a macro level event. that is a gloom and doom question.

I know. Yeah.

Stephen, let's get positive. We gotta we gotta stay positive.

You know, you know I did not mean it negatively. No.

I know.

No. You know, from a from a from a you know, from my standpoint, I think the biggest thing would be you know, we are hoping to continue to, you know, grow margin a little bit.

Ronald alluded to it. We did it a couple of times here.

I think if rates stay up funding becomes a little more challenging. You know, maybe a little bit a little bit heavier fight on NIM Yeah.

That may hurt us even though we are we are positioned very well from an AL standpoint. You know, very neutral.

I mean, so, but, obviously, if rates stay up, your funding cost pressures, you know, probably something that could nip at us a little bit.

I really feel good about the team's ability to keep growing. I talked about the disruption.

You know? We have kind of got this thing built right now and really just starting to hit on most of our cylinders.

We have still got some gaps that we wanna close. Still working on some technology initiatives and things like that, but I do not think any of that will would impede us from hitting our growth targets.

Yeah. I think you live in the Southeast like the rest of us, Stephen, and it is just hard to argue that every 1 of the markets is doing well.

The economy is doing good, and our folks are out working everybody else out there. And I just think it is barring some crazy macro event, we are gonna continue the progress we are making and excited about it.

Yeah. No.

that is a really good answer. And I think you know, the idea of just kind of starting to hit on the cylinders, not that you are already firing all cylinders, is kinda the best conveyance of the continual momentum there.

So I appreciate that. And this question probably gets answered by that statement alone, but the stock has been performing so well given your trends.

I mean, does M&A start to come back on the table at any point in time just given the relative strength of your currency now and maybe accelerate that trajectory even further? Add some cylinders to the engine, if you will?

Yeah. Yeah.

You know, right now, as we alluded to, you know, we are still very focused on this organic strategy. You know, obviously, with the valuation lift, you know, it is something that I think we could start to think about a little more as we look into, you know, look into our quarters.

But right now, you know, we are pretty well singularly focused. Right now on this organic strategy and, you know, as we get into doing some planning out, for 2027, then obviously, something that we would consider, watch the markets.

I think we are always looking to see what is happening out there. But something that we have got you know, it is a it is a card that we could play, now more so than before, especially with valuations.

But we still like this organic strategy as 1A.

Yeah. That would be pretty special to make us a lot better.

not just bigger. Yep.

Makes a lot of sense. Okay.

Appreciate it, and congrats again on great quarter, great couple years, obviously. Thanks.

Thank you, Stephen.

Thanks.

Hey, good morning guys.

Hey, Steve. How are you?

Maybe just starting-- hey. Starting here on just going back to the margin dynamics here.

I guess maybe first with securities book, is this kind of as low as you guys think it will go? Or could we see a little more runoff in the book given, you know, deposit competition here?

Yeah. I think our book is stabilized.

It could drift slightly lower, but, you know, we are in a good spot. Basically, your percent of the investments to total balance sheet assets and we use a lot for pledging.

We are gonna stay within a 10, 12% range. Of the assets.

So not much less. But we still have on balance sheet cash.

We are probably you know, $75 to $100 million heavy. With the late quarter brokered.

Entrance. So we saw some still use some balance sheet cash going forward.

Okay. Brett.

And then Ronald, did I hear you correctly, flattish loan yields for 3Q? And then just given the back book repricing, probably 6 or 7 bps in the fourth quarter?

Yes. The fourth quarter.

Yeah. Okay.

And so then kind of like a probably close to 3.50s type margin in the fourth quarter.

No. Our base is about 48.

So we are probably targeting probably closer to the 53 plus or minus.

Okay. Got you.

Brett. And then in terms of just maybe just 1 more circling back to the loan pipeline here.

You know, good growth across the board. I hear you guys geography geographically, it is very strong.

You know, going forward, is the pipeline mix you know, more tilted towards C and I, or is it still kind of balanced? Just kinda curious, like, what the pipeline color is there.

Yeah. We were actually Steve, we are actually talking about the we are-- you know, Rhett, why do not you give some color on that?

I know we talked about geography mix and type. Yeah.

Composition, you wanna give him some color there?

Sure, Steve. If you noticed on the, you know, the chart in the in the package, you know, our portfolio continues to just be, stable, with regard to the mix of the portfolio as a whole and the pipeline.

Really, it is a good representation of that same trend. We have got good mix of geographies across our footprint, as well as product type.

So we are really expecting the throughput from the pipe to kind of keep that same trend going, where it will stay pretty consistent. Know, in forward looking quarters.

Okay. Brett.

Appreciate that there. And so just thinking about, you know, loan pipeline's good.

I know we talked about sandbagging a little bit here earlier. You know, it seems like this mid-3.5% type loan growth linked quarter is sustainable here for the second half.

Yeah. I think so.

Yeah. We are I think we are right there.

You know? Again, you know, plus minus.

We always try to hedge a little bit on some pay downs, But when we look at pipelines, Steve, we feel good about where that is the reason we really like, you know, this organic strategy. Just keep doing what is working.

You know? And so, you know, we are just we are gonna keep supporting their teams to help bring those clients on.

But, yeah, I think we can get in that I think we can stay in that 3% plus minus, maybe 3.5 on a quarter over quarter basis.

Okay. Brett.

And last 1 for me. Just curious on what the effective tax rate here you guys are expecting going forward.

Yes. Yes.

Thanks, Steve. Good question.

Going forward, about 19 and a half percent Second quarter, we had to do some catch up from the from the first quarter. So, again, going forward, 19 and a half.

Right. Well, you guys made too much money, so nice problem to have.

Brett quarter, guys. Gotta pay the tax.

Thanks, Steve. We will keep working on it, Stephen.

Hey, good morning. Wanted to ask about reserve level and is there flexibility given the low charge offs within your CECL modeling and kind of framework over many years to the reserve to kind of incrementally fall in the future or would you just as soon keep it right where it is?

The CECL model question. That question is so easy.

I am gonna let Ronald take that. Go ahead, Ronald.

We probably do not see where it is gonna go lower. Again, we have been targeting 98 basis points and with our qualitative factors.

So, I think we are very comfortable where it is at, and everyone seems to like that range. So, yeah, I do not I do not envision it going lower from here at this point.

At least not in the near future. Nope.

that is that is great, Ronald. I appreciate that.

And, Billy, back to you for a second. As you have had success in markets like Columbus, are you seeing other new entrants in that same market Are you pretty much alone in your entry there?

You know, you know, I think we have not seen new entrants. We have seen, you know, folks, you know, flexing into that zone a little bit more.

Down there again. You know, it is just a it is a it is a really it is a good zone.

And, you know, as we have gotten to know that market well over the last year, we are we are very excited about the team that we have and the opportunities that we have. But I think Columbus is probably a lot like you know, several other zones that we are in.

You know, these markets that are strong, we are just seeing you know, increased presence and folks trying to recruit and add bankers. But, I like our chances.

I like our teams, and I think we have got a got a good path ahead on, in really in just about all of our zones, really all of our zones.

But we, really excited about what we have got going on in Columbus. I agree that lift out and that team models and fits and mimics a lot of our other markets and culture and just-- it is just been a good fit Sounds good.

Thank you both. I appreciate you taking our questions this morning.

Thanks, Christopher. Thank you.

Thanks so much. I appreciate everybody joining us today.

Thanks for listening in. Thanks for caring about the franchise we are building, and we hope you have a great day.