Leading a life of success and significance – that’s what Rick Callicutt, a 1980 alumnus of High Point University, is doing as president and CEO at the Bank of North Carolina (BNC).
Callicutt started his banking career four days after he graduated from HPU with a business administration degree. A native of High Point, he joined a startup banking company in Thomasville, North Carolina.
The Bank began in a small trailer. Today, that same Bank of North Carolina boasts $5 billion in assets, and is one of the most profitable and fastest-growing banks in the Southeast.
As the Chief Executive Officer of both the Bank and its parent company, BNC Bancorp, Callicutt says the focus on entrepreneurialism that HPU instills in its students has set the university – and its graduates – apart from its competition.
“HPU encourages and focuses the curriculum on entrepreneurship and accountability: the qualities most needed to compete as a company and as an individual in today’s global economy,” says the CEO. “The resources on campus, access to world class professionals, and the exemplary leadership have propelled HPU to ‘Best in Class.’”
Some may even see a common theme between the explosive growth of BNC and HPU.
“Dr. Nido Qubein has transformed the university unlike any success story of the last decade,” adds Callicutt. “The financial investment in technology, talent and vast campus resources have gained both the community and the university recognition that has propelled the local economy and provided a tool for recruitment of further economic development in our region.”
Callicutt’s daughter, Lindsay Thomas, also graduated from HPU in 2006. She is now the Director of Business & Development at Davis Regional Medical Center in Statesville, North Carolina. Callicutt says Thomas’ HPU experience gave her further perspective not only on the challenges of growing as a professional, but as an individual as well.
“Lindsay’s experience at HPU supported a free thinking, entrepreneurial mentality that has served her well as she has advanced much more quickly in her career than I would have ever imagined,” says Callicutt.
Now, Callicutt says his goal at BNC is to continue growing, impress analysts and investors, and increase profits 90 percent over the next two years.
With more than 30 years of extraordinary success in banking and leadership, High Point University is proud to call Rick Callicutt one of our own.