Banker Hudson to retire

SARASOTA — Longtime prominent local banker Tramm Hudson is retiring — for the second time.

Hudson, who will turn 60 Nov. 11, says he will retire from his current post, Florida President for St. Cloud, Minn.-based Stearns Bank, Nov. 15. He will stay with the bank, which entered the Gulf Coast market in 2009, as a goodwill ambassador. Hudson called his departure a “very amicable situation” in an interview today with the Business Review.

One of the key reasons behind Hudson's decision was the fact that a building he owned, a former office for First Priority Bank in Bradenton, finally sold. Says Hudson: “That was a big financial albatross tied around my neck.”

Hudson, an infantryman in the U.S. Army who left the service in 1996 as a Lt. Col. in the Army Reserve, worked in local banking for 30 years. A native of Montgomery, Ala., he co-founded Enterprise National Bank, which later became part of Provident Bank and after that, RBC Centura.

Hudson, a supporter of local Republican Party candidates and causes, retired from RBC in 2006 to make his own run for office. He ran in the Republican primary for a seat in the U.S. Congress, but lost the race to local entrepreneur Vern Buchanan.

Hudson consulted for several local banks after that campaign, including Coast Bank in Bradenton. Hudson then joined Whitney Bank, prior to his position with Stearns. Hudson says he told Stearns executives he's not retiring with any plans to run for office, and he says he means it — for now. “You never say never,” says Hudson.

Hudson says he has no definitive plans for the future. “I'm sure I will find something to keep me occupied,” he says.