The city of Knoxville issued the following press release:
Mayor Bill Haslam announced today that longtime Knoxville banker and community leader Larry Martin has agreed to serve as Senior Director of Finance and Deputy to the Mayor.
'Larry's depth of management experience and wide community involvement will be of great benefit to the city of Knoxville,' Mayor Haslam said. 'Larry has many opportunities to choose from at this point in his career, and I'm grateful that he's agreed to serve the citizens of Knoxville in this capacity.'
Martin said, 'I respect and admire Mayor Haslam very much, and have been impressed by what his administration is accomplishing. I consider it an honor to join the team and work toward making Knoxville the best city it can be.'
Martin will begin his new role at the City on Sept. 18, and work with Chris Kinney, the Senior Director of Finance and Accountability, for a smooth transition. Kinney announced his earlier this week he was returning to the private sector at the end of September.
Martin, 59, retired in June as chief operating officer for First Tennessee Financial Services with responsibility for all Tennessee regional bank markets, merchant services processing, Hickory Venture Capital, Synaxis Group, and the commercial, corporate and middle market divisions of the bank.
He joined First Tennessee, then First National Bank, in 1969 as an assistant branch manager in Memphis. He was promoted to progressively more responsible positions throughout his career, and in 1987 moved to Knoxville when he was named regional president of First Tennessee-Knoxville.
With First Tennessee's merger with Valley Bank in 1991, he was named CEO and chairman of the Knoxville bank.
In 1997, Martin was given statewide responsibility for all First Tennessee financial centers outside of Memphis. In 2001, he became President of Business Financial Services assuming responsibility for the corporation's business strategy as well as overseeing the bank's four east regional markets. In 2004, he was promoted to COO for First Tennessee Financial Services.
His contributions to the community have been numerous. He currently serves as chairman of the Covenant Health System and the Family Investment Foundation, and is vice chair of the East Tennessee Foundation. He is also involved with the United Way of Greater Knoxville, Partnership for Neighborhood Improvement, the Historic Tennessee Theatre Foundation and the Great Smoky Mountain Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He is past chairman of the Greater Knoxville Chamber of Commerce and Leadership Knoxville, and he headed Knoxville's 1995 United Way campaign.
