Tennessee Bankers See Auspicious Start to Locally-Owned Chattanooga Bank.

Byline: Dave Flessner

Jul. 8--Kenny Dyer isn't sporting any coonskin cap these days.

But the Chattanooga banker hasn't strayed far from his Pioneer Bank roots.

The Pioneer name and emblem were supplanted last year when Chattanooga's biggest independent bank sold to First American Corp., which was soon after bought by AmSouth Bank. But Mr. Dyer and other top executives of the former Pioneer Bank have moved on to a new "frontier."

Last month, Frontier Bank opened in downtown Chattanooga next door to the headquarters of the former Pioneer Bank on Broad Street. Frontier and its parent company, First Security Group, are headed by a half dozen former Pioneer Bank executives who …