Another Georgia bank bites the dust

Three banks have been shut down by federal regulators so far this afternoon: First State Bank in Cranford, NJ; Blue Ridge Savings Bank Inc. in Asheville, NC; and Piedmont Community Bank in Gray, GA.

There have been 79 failed banks so far in 2011 (slightly behind last year’s pace at this point); 20 of those failures have been in Georgia.

From the FDIC’s press release about Piedmont Community Bank:

The two branches of Piedmont Community Bank will reopen on Saturday as branches of State Bank and Trust Company. Depositors of Piedmont Community Bank will automatically become depositors of State Bank and Trust Company.[. . .]

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $71.6 million.

State Bank and Trust Company is based in Macon. Gray is a small town in the small Jones County, which is almost the exact center of the state.