Justin Strickland is the President of Southern First Bank and has over 31 years of banking experience. From 1985 until 1993, Mr. Strickland held various positions with The Citizens & Southern National Bank of South Carolina. From 1993 until November 2006, he was with Carolina First Bank. From 1999 until November 2006, he held the position of South Carolina Midlands Market President.

Mr. Strickland is a 1985 graduate of the University of South Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in finance and the LSU Graduate School of Banking of the South in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1996.

He currently serves as Board Member of Lexington County Medical Foundation, and Board Member and Finance Committee Chairman of Navigating from Good to Great Foundation, Mr. Strickland served as past Chairman of the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce; past Chairman of the SC Bankers Association and past Chairman of the Children’s Trust of South Carolina. He formerly held the position of Treasurer with the Saluda Shoal Foundation and is a past Board Member of Columbia Urban League, Palmetto Health Foundation (past Chairman), Junior Achievement (past Chairman), the SC Bankers School (past Chairman), and the Boy Scouts Indian Water Council. He is an active member of Saxe Gotha Presbyterian Church. He was a prior Chairman of the SC Bankers Association/Young Bankers Division where he received the SC Outstanding Young Bankers Award in 1999. He has been a member in the past with the Rotary Club, Sertoma Club, Business Association of Columbia, Salvation Army, and the United Way.

Mr. Strickland and his wife Rhonda have been married 29 years and have two sons, Justin, II (25) and Chance (22).