Seneca-based bank to merge

Seneca-based Community First Bancorporation and Raleigh, North Carolina’s Dogwood State Bank have signed a definitive merger agreement.  The announcement, in a news release by the two, says it is an agreement for Dogwood to acquire Community First and its subsidiary in an all-stock merger.  The announcement quotes Richard Burleson, Community First’s president/CEO, as saying that “to continue growing, to provide cutting edge technology and to become more profitable, we need a partner who can provide us the opportunity to better serve our customers with a much larger balance sheet, enhanced technology and expanded products and services.”