Guaranty Bank targets Joplin market

Springfield-based Guaranty Federal Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: GFED) announced yesterday plans to expand into the Joplin market with a loan production office.

Guaranty Vice President and Director of Marketing Carlye Wannenmacher said an opening date hasn’t been set, but the company hired industry veteran Jeffrey Williams to oversee operations in the market.

“We are looking at options for the loan production office location in Joplin and plan to decide on the appropriate space to lease within the next two weeks,” President and CEO Shaun Burke said via email. “Guaranty Bank is entering Joplin with the intention of a long-term commitment to serve the community.”

Williams, who has more than 20 years of banking experience, spent the past 10 years as community bank president in Joplin with Liberty Bank and then its acquiring company Simmons Bank.

Joplin would be the fifth market for Guaranty Bank, which currently operates six branches in Springfield, two in Nixa and one in Ozark, as well as a loan production office in Marshfield.

The Joplin office would provide U.S. Small Business Administration-backed loans, equipment loans, commercial lines of credit, commercial real estate loans and commercial construction loans, as well as mortgage and consumer lending services.

GFED shares closed yesterday at $15.34, compared to a 52-week range of $14.15 to $15.90.