Great Southern ready to stretch out in new operations center

by Trenton Tubbs

SBJ Contributing Writer

sbj@sbj.net

Renovation of the former Albertson's grocery store at 218 S. Glenstone is complete, and the employees at Great Southern Operations Center can breathe a lot easier. Since moving into the building within the last month, they have almost twice the space they had before.

The building and property were purchased for $1.3 million from Price Cutter in 2002, said Doug Marrs, vice president of operations for Great Southern. After a review of the building, the company decided to gut it and renovate completely.

The refurbished building bears little resemblance to a grocery store, with 70,000 square feet of interior space divided into offices, meeting rooms and cubicles. An additional 15,000-square-foot metal building was constructed just to the north to accommodate mail operations, and the buildings and grounds maintenance department.

Renovation took just over a year at a cost of roughly $2 million. The general contractor for renovation and new construction was Kristin Etem and Hood Rich Inc. provided engineering services.

The main building has absorbed all the behind-the-scenes banking operations that were housed at the downtown Great Southern location at South and Pershing, Marrs said. In addition, customer service, employee training and loan-servicing operations from the Battlefield location are now based in the Operations Center.

"The facility was absolutely maxed out," said Marrs of the downtown building. "We struggled for a couple of years to find more space and a place where we could expand. With all the square footage we have here, it really gave us the opportunity to make that move."

The downtown building has eight floors and approximately 32,000 square feet.

The new facility allows bank operations to be streamlined, said Marrs. At the downtown location, work was "a little more disjointed," he said. At the new facility "there's better interaction between different departments since you don't have to wait on an elevator to go to a different floor." With the open layout of the new building, work flows more smoothly. Fiber-optic cabling connects the center's computer network, which is an improvement over the old system.

Marrs said that several details were taken into consideration to make working in the center more comfortable. The cubicles are slightly taller than typical, giving more privacy to employees. And the exposed air ducts overhead are made of a soft material with a slit running the entire length that allows air to be evenly disbursed.

The new building significantly expands training facilities in addition to operations. There is a teller training room that is essentially a mock bank with stations positioned around the room.

Meeting rooms equipped with projectors and computer interactive Smart Boards facilitate training for employees. The rooms also will be available for outside groups.

The new facility has a lobby with a teller window and ATM, although these will be primarily for employees, Marrs said.

Kelly Polonus, Great Southern corporate communications director, said that the building is fully occupied but is still a work in progress. "Just like moving into a new home, things still have to be done," she said. Eventually, artwork will be hung on the walls to add some color, and an internal TV channel will be operational.

Some other benefits for employees at the new location include a cafeteria with four TVs and a fitness center, which has cardio and weight-training equipment, as well as showers.

Great Southern had originally looked at downtown locations for its new facility. "We looked at a couple of buildings down by the square, but they just weren't compatible," said Marrs. "We came across this one and it met a couple of our needs. It was big enough and kept us in the downtown Springfield area. We still consider this part of center city Springfield."

The move to the new location means an economic boost to the area, said Marrs.

"I think for economic development in this immediate area, it should be a strong shot in the arm.

When you have approximately 200 people who have moved into this area that have fairly good income, they can certainly do their shopping here and visit the restaurants."

The new facility also fills a building that had been vacant for two years. "I know the neighboring business, and I got a chance to talk to some folks and even some residents here, and they're glad we're here because we took an empty building that was empty for so long and it's kind of creating some vibrancy here," said Polonus.

The building at South and Pershing has been purchased by Rick Gregg, although Great Southern still occupies two floors where it maintains its downtown branch and insurance company. Gregg could not be reached for comment.

Family Flowers, which is on the parking lot of the Glenstone property, will continue to operate normally.

Great Southern Bank has 29 branch locations and more than 140 ATMs.