BancorpSouth responds to ex-employees’ bank startup effort

Dave Kunze, BancorpSouth’s Missouri president, and Rob Fulp, the bank’s Springfield president, said they had heard rumors that a group of former employees might be organizing a bank, what would be Springfield’s 30th.

The buzz in the banking community turned out to be true.

On May 21, a group of bankers with ties to BancorpSouth or The Signature Bank, its local predecessor, electronically filed a charter application for Springfield First Community Bank with the Missouri Division of Finance.

Executives Brian Straughan, Jan Baumgartner and Kirk Bossert are behind the startup bank, which has a three-year goal of $200 million in assets. The trio earlier this year left BancorpSouth, the Tupelo, Miss.-based institution that entered Springfield last year through a $170 million merger with The Signature Bank, a community bank with roots dating back to 1997.

Springfield First executives and shareholders have said the bank would play up its local ties. Charlie O’Reilly, of the O’Reilly Automotive clan, Realtor Larry Lipscomb and Trailiner Corp. President and CEO H.E. “Spook” Whitener are among those on the proposed bank’s board of directors.

Kunze, who wished his former colleagues well in their endeavor, said BancorpSouth has built a loyal clientele through its range of products and focus on customer service.

“Customers vote with their wallets, and they’ll go with the banks where they feel they can get the best service and the banks that meet their financial needs,” he said. “Because of these individuals’ backgrounds, I’m sure that our customer base will be targeted. But if we’re doing our job, I believe the loyalty that the customers have placed in us for years … will continue.”

BancorpSouth has promoted six employees to fill the positions vacated by the Springfield First organizers. Sarah Schrader and Stephanie Callahan are in charge of deposit operations; Meridith Conboy is head of loan operations; Ashley Kester oversees cash management; Jennifer Gagnon handles marketing; and Charles Hachtel specializes in consumer loans.

“We did lose those six individuals at our bank, but we still have around 140 employees at this time,” Fulp said. “And we’re very proud that … our employees know our customers.”

BancorpSouth also recently added former Guaranty Bank executive Todd Brierly as vice president and director of medical and executive banking.

Kunze said the BancorpSouth-The Signature Bank merger has been good for the community in a number of ways. For instance, he said, BancorpSouth has contributed $2 million to Missouri State University scholarships and athletic programs.

“BancorpSouth has a greater amount of resources to invest in the community,” Kunze said. “We stressed that point at the time of the merger, and it has become a reality. … We did not have that ability when we were The Signature Bank.”

Kunze also noted that BancorpSouth has more than 300 local shareholders who have invested millions in bank stock.

Fulp highlighted BancorpSouth’s high number of deeds of trust filed in the region, with 420 recorded in the first four months of 2008 – a statistic that translates into $73 million in loans. The bank’s commercial loan pipeline also exceeds $100 million, he added.[[In-content Ad]]