Roughly 16 months after it became the first financial institution to operate in the heart of Newtown, BayFirst National Bank has officially become a permanent fixture in the community. The St. Petersburg-based community bank recently purchased the building it has rented at 1782 Dr. Martin Luther King Way since January 2022, with plans to convert the loan production office (LPO) and financial resource center into a full-service banking center, under the continued direction of Business Development Specialists and Newtown area natives Joe McKenzie and Carlos Yancy.