Commerce Bank expands its Branson presence

Commerce Bank has reached a lease agreement with Cushman Properties LLC as the anchor tenant for Branson Financial Center, a four-story, Class A office facility under construction at 506 W. Main in downtown Branson.

Commerce will operate a full-service banking center in the building, with lobby space for consumer and commercial banking, three drive-up banking lanes, and a 24-hour drive-up ATM.

Well be offering a full range of commercial, retail and money management services out of this new location, said John Himmel, chairman of Commerce Bank, Springfield Region.

Himmel added that the branch is expected open for business early in the second quarter of 2004 with a staff of seven or eight, including lending staff, financial services representatives and tellers.

The facility will be Commerces second location in Branson.

We have been in the Branson market for more than 10 years now, serving the community out of a single location, located in the Jubilee Foods grocery store on Highway 76, Himmel said. Weve enjoyed good success, good growth, in the commercial and retail customer base, and we think now is a real good time to expand our presence in the Branson market.

In terms of commercial growth, Most of the commercial activity is centered around the entrepreneurial market that is very strong in the Branson, in the Tri-Lakes, region, Himmel said.

Rob Johns, local vice president and branch manager of Commerce Bank, will continue as manager with responsibilities for both locations.

We are confident our new banking center will enhance the level of service and convenience Commerce offers to its growing customer base in Branson and Southwest Missouri, stated Johns in a news release. We look forward to significantly expanding our presence and contributing to the vitality of the downtown business and retail community.

Commerce Bank, Springfield Region, operates 14 banking centers in Greene, Christian, Taney, Polk and Lawrence counties. According to the 2003 SBJ Book of Lists, Commerce Bank had $1.4 billion in local assets and $1.02 billion in local deposits in 2002.

Commerce Bank is part of Commerce Bancshares Inc., a registered bank holding company that operates in approximately 330 banking locations in Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas. As of Sept. 30, Commerce Bancshares reported total assets of $13.6 billion, total loans of $7.9 billion and total deposits of $10 billion.