Overheard

Signage at The Signature Bank’s six Springfield locations changed June 29 to take on the BancorpSouth Bank name. The banks officially merged July 1, three months after a merger of holding

companies – Springfield-based City Bancorp and Tupelo, Miss.-based BancorpSouth Inc. In addition to its Springfield branches, The Signature Bank operates a loan production office in Clayton, and another is under construction in O’Fallon. Those locations will bear the BancorpSouth name around Aug. 1. The Signature Bank chairman and CEO David Kunze is BancorpSouth’s Missouri regional president, and The Signature Bank President Robert Fulp is the merged bank’s Springfield president. The Springfield Bank had about $953 million in assets and $614 million in deposits as of March 31. BancorpSouth Inc., a $13 billion financial holding company, operates about 290 commercial banking, mortgage, insurance, trust and broker dealer locations in eight states. Shares of BancorpSouth are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol BXS. They closed July 3 at $24.97, compared to a 52-week range of $23.22 to $28.60. See the Springfield Business Journal’s July 16 Banking Services issue for more details on The Signature Bank’s new identity.

MSU’s $220M Budget Breakdown

The Missouri State University Board of Governors approved a $219.7 million 2007–08 operating budget two days before the school’s new fiscal year began. Budgeted operating expenses will be financed by budgeted and net nonoperating revenues of $221.6 million, according to an MSU news release. Operating expenses at the Springfield campus are budgeted at $209.3 million, while budgeted operating expenses at the West Plains campus are $8.9 million. The Springfield campus budget includes funding for seven new faculty positions and four new staff positions, a 5 percent increase in the salary pool for employees, a $1.4 million increase in student scholarships and financial aid for a total of $39.3 million, and increases in utilities and other fixed costs. The budget includes revenues from a 3.5 percent increase in student fees, a 4 percent to 5 percent increase in room-and-board charges and an expected enrollment growth of 100 students. The state is expected to provide the school $83.7 million – about $4.3 million more than received in 2006–07. The appropriation is a 4.2 percent increase from last year.

Slice of Nice

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon recognized Branson’s Residence Inn for accommodating and working with guests in the aftermath of January’s ice storm – a time when Nixon cited several businesses for price gouging. One Springfield couple in particular, Jerry and Donna Powell, was extremely grateful for the care given them during their stay. “The fine staff worked hard to see to our comfort,” the Powells said in a letter to Nixon.