Little Rock firm nabs Springfield mortgage veteran

A Springfield mortgage manager has moved twice in the past year and landed at Bank of Little Rock Mortgage’s first Springfield office.

Kent Kelso, who previously served in leadership roles at USA Mortgage and Heartland Bank, now serves as regional manager and branch manager of the Little Rock, Ark.-based company’s Springfield operation, 3745 S. Fremont Ave., Unit D. The office opened Nov. 11, according to a news release.

“Our expansion into Missouri could not be possible without strong leadership at the local level,” Bank of Little Rock Mortgage President Scott McElmurry said of Kelso in the release.

Kelso was named branch manager of USA Mortgage-Springfield in January after exiting the local operation of St. Louis-based Heartland Bank, for which he served as head of home loan operations in Springfield, Joplin and Branson. Kelso was part of a group of employees that left Heartland and effectively shuttered its Queen City office, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

The 24-year mortgage industry veteran leads a Bank of Little Rock Mortgage office that primarily provides residential mortgage services for central Arkansas home buyers and sellers.