Eagle Bancorp

EagleBank was established by Ronald D. Paul, former president of Bethesda-based Allegiance Bank, and a former banker from Central National Bank. Eagle Bancorp, Inc., was incorporated as a bank holding company in the state of Maryland on October 28, 1997. On June 9, 1998, the company became a public company via an initial public offering. On July 20, 1998, EagleBank opened its first office in Rockville, Maryland, after receiving approvals from the State of Maryland and the Federal Reserve System, and acceptance for deposit insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Branch offices in Bethesda and Silver Spring were opened several months afterwards. The bank opened the Silver Spring office in 1999, a location on K Street in Washington, D.C., in 2000, and a location near Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in 2002.

New capital of $30 million was raised with a secondary stock offering in 2003. The new capital funded a new location on Rockville Pike in 2003 and a location near Dupont Circle in 2004. EagleBank opened a regional office at McPherson Square in 2005 and a branch office in Chevy Chase in 2006.

In December 2008, the United States Department of the Treasury purchased $38.2 million of assets from EagleBank as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Chief Executive Officer Ronald Paul said that EagleBank was strong financially, but it was finding it extremely difficult to raise private capital because of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. In 2010, EagleBank received $71.9 million funding so it could lend more to small businesses as part of the United States Department of Treasury's Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. The funds were repaid to the US Treasury by EagleBank in 2015 after a stock sale.In 2013, EagleBank teamed with Graystone Consulting to provide wealth management services.

In March 2019, EagleBank's founder and CEO, Ron Paul, announced his retirement. Susan G. Riel was appointed CEO and President and Norm Pozez was appointed chairman.

Riel was named one of American Banker's five-community bank CEOs to watch in 2020. At the time EagleBank was approaching $10 billion in assets, a growth point that would trigger increased regulation.

In June 2020 the bank added Paul Saltzman to its executive team as executive vice president and chief legal officer. In the 2/28/2020 issue of the Washington Business Journal, Eagle Bancorp Inc. ranked #2 on the Women on Public Company Boards in Greater D.C. list.

Notable Acquisitions

In September 2008, EagleBank bought Fidelity and Trust Bank in a $13.1 million transaction.

In July 2011, EagleBank announced it would buy Alliance Bank for $31 million, but the transaction was called off five months later because they could not agree on the terms of the deal.

In November 2014, EagleBank acquired Virginia Heritage Bank for $183 million.

Sponsorships & Company Initiatives

Eagle Bancorp Foundation was established in 2005. Funded from the proceeds of its golf fundraising event, the foundation supports organizations involved in the fight against breast cancer.

In 2014, the tenth annual event raised more than $375,000 to support local hospitals and charities involved in fighting breast cancer,

and in its fifteenth year in 2019 raised more than $424,000, totalling $4.3 million over the life of the program.

In 2008 and 2009, the bank sponsored the Military Bowl, originally named the EagleBank Bowl, a college football bowl game first held in December 2008.

The Bank purchased the naming rights to the EagleBank Arena, formerly known as the Patriot Center, in May 2015 following a partnership deal with George Mason University.

In 2016, EagleBank launched a Commercial Banking Development Program to open a career path for future commercial bankers. The program exposes recent graduates to multiple departments and aspects of finance to help them determine what areas interest them.

EagleBank and D.C. United entered into a five-year partnership in 2018 that made EagleBank the official bank of D.C. United and created the EagleBank Club at Audi Field.

In 2020, the bank gave $5 million to the Washington Housing Initiative Impact Pool, a program launched by the Federal City Council to promote the creation of affordable workforce housing. During the COVID-19 crisis, the EagleBank Foundation distributed $100,000 to 10 D.C.-area organizations, including hospitals , food banks , and first responder aid organizations . Funds were used to provide PPE, in-room technology for hospital staff, and meals for families in the Washington Metropolitan area. EagleBank itself provided $50,000 in aid to displaced George Mason University students.