OakStar Bank expanding Bolivar presence

OakStar Bank is preparing the summer launch of a full-service Bolivar branch to replace a loan office in operation for a year.

Marketing Director Robin Rees said the company in early 2015 purchased the 4,000-square-foot branch building, 340 S. Springfield Ave., prior to hiring employees for the loan office that opened across the street in June. Its loan office was leased as a temporary measure while the company renovated the building it owned for the branch, she said.

“We were committed to the Bolivar community from the very start,” Rees said, declining to disclose financials for the project. “We want to meet all of the customers’ needs, including retail and commercial deposits.”

Rees said the branch would employ eight, including existing Bolivar Community President Kelly Parson.

The move in Bolivar would give OakStar Bank two branches, including its 1020 E. Battlefield Road headquarters in Springfield. The company also operates a mortgage office in Kansas City, and Rees said there are no current plans to expand in that market.