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Justin Cox, regional president, and Jackie Bonner, regional market manager
Justin Cox, regional president, and Jackie Bonner, regional market manager

2015 Economic Impact Awards 1-5 Years in Operation Finalist: Southern Bank

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Southern Bank had ample cash, a clean balance sheet and a desire to lend when it entered Springfield five years ago.

“It was perfect timing for a healthy bank to come into the area ... and get a foothold,” says Justin Cox, regional bank president.

Poplar Bluff-based Southern Missouri Bancorp Inc. began with a loan production office in Springfield in 2010 when many banks were still struggling from the 2008 recession.

Southern Bank found shelter from most of that in southeast Missouri and was able to send money into the Ozarks economy when most banks weren’t, Cox said.

Southern Bank’s regional roots run deep. Poplar Bluff Loan and Building – so named to indicate its home-loan purpose – was founded in 1887 with $100,000 in assets. By late 1969, the bank’s assets sat at $23 million, the same year the first branch opened in Dexter. By the early 1980s, the now-named Southern Missouri Savings and Loan opened a second office in Van Buren and grew assets to $107 million.

The conversion from mutual ownership to a publicly traded stock – (Nasdaq: SMBC) – was completed April 13, 1994.

“As we grew, we continued to be a provider of home financing but also focused on small business lending, commercial deposit products, consumer lending and popular checking accounts,” says Robin Rees, marketing director.

Another name change followed as well as the addition of six branches throughout the state in the 2000s. In 2009, the bank expanded into Arkansas with four branches in Jonesboro and Paragould.

“These branches marked a significant increase in the bank’s market area,” Rees says. “It was at that time that the decision was made to change our name to Southern Bank to reflect the change in our regional presence. Following the acquisition of the four Arkansas locations, the bank’s assets totaled $511 million.”

Southern Bank entered the Springfield market with the intent of finding an appropriate acquisition, Cox says. That goal was achieved when the bank merged with Nixa-based Peoples Bank of the Ozarks last year, bringing Southern’s branch count to 35 – 11 locally – with more than $1 billion in assets.

“It’s allowed us to expand the deposit base to allow our customers to come find us,” Cox says.

Southern Bank received regulatory approval to convert the Springfield location to a full-service branch in 2011 and will move a few hundred yards into a new office on the first floor of the Gardner Capital Inc. building at 4803 S. National Ave., which will offer a drive-thru feature not currently available. Plans call for a mid-November move.

Southern Bank remains on the lookout for expansion opportunities while continuing to help businesses and customers with their financial needs, Cox says.

“We’re not done looking for the right partnerships,” he says. “We are still open to that, but the main thing is to continue to grow (the bank’s) base. Our plan here is to continue to deploy and help people who want to expand.”

At the end of 2014, Southern Bank had more than $241 million invested in local businesses, Rees says.

“We know that the local bank and the power of that bank to lend money is the lifeblood of the community,” she says.

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