BANKING LEADERS:

First Tennessee names Louis Allen Jr. as its new regional president.

First Tennessee Bank executive vice president Louis Allen Jr. will succeed Bruce Hopkins as head of the Memphis bank’s West Tennessee banking business.

First Tennessee announced the change Tuesday, saying Hopkins will step up to chairman of the West Tennessee region when Allen becomes president on June 30.

Hopkins, among the most visible First Tennessee executives in the city, oversees about 300 employees in the center of the bank’s Memphis business. Those employees work in the commercial banking, business banking, private client, trust department and branch networks.

Hopkins and Allen will continue to report to First Tennessee president David Popwell, who is responsible for the Memphis-based bank’s operations. First Tennessee employs about 4,200 nationwide.

Allen entered National Bank of Commerce’s executive management program in 1990 and eventually managed the Memphis bank’s private banking business. First Tennessee recruited Allen in 2009, five years after Florida-based Suntrust Banks acquired NBC.

“As a lifelong Memphian, to have an opportunity to work for First Tennessee and serve in this role is a great honor,’’ Allen said.

Allen and Popwell are both relatively new to First Tennessee. Popwell, 55, went to First Tennessee in 2011 from Suntrust, where he was chairman of the bank’s Memphis region. He had earlier been hired by NBC and was previously an attorney at the Memphis law firm Baker Donelson.

Allen currently manages First Tennessee’s commercial banking business and recently added business banking in Northern Mississippi. Business banking refers to firms with revenue up to $15 million per year while commercial banking clients have annual sales of $15 million to $200 million.

“We need to continue to work hard to attract more employers, but there are a lot of good things to report about the region,” Allen said.

Allen, who goes by the nickname Bo, described the business units he’ll become responsible for as stable.

Hopkins, 66, joined First Tennessee 30 years ago. He managed private client, trust and wealth management units before being named West Tennessee president in April 2011.

Hopkins has served on the boards of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Arts-Memphis and several other nonprofits. He was recognized for outstanding community service by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis in 2014.

Allen, 48, serves on the boards of Arts-Memphis, Christian Brothers University and the Orpheum.