Meridian Mortgage Opens in Fayetteville

Meridian Mortgage

Owner: Kelly Tribell

Address: 1 W. Mountain St.,

Fayetteville 72701

Phone/fax: (479) 251-7661/

(479) 251-7676

Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. tttMonday-Friday, tttSaturday by

appointment

Startup date: Sept. 1

E-mail:

[email protected]

Web site:

www.meridianmtg.com

Kelly Tribell started buying owner-financed mortgages across the country and selling them to banks five years ago. Now he’s opened his own mortgage brokerage firm on the Fayetteville square.

With a background that isn’t predominantly banking, Tribell believes he can offer his customers a different perspective from the typical mortgage services offered at a bank.

Tribell believes his company personalizes its services more to fit the customer’s individual needs. That seems to be working, because much of his business comes from referrals, he pointed out.

“Our job is to look at what the customer needs and find the best loan for them,” he said.

Tribell has a loan processor who works from her home and two loan officers who work in the field — one in Little Rock and the other in western Arkansas. Meridian’s ability to meet customers on their own turf is what sets it apart from a typical bank mortgage service, he said.

“We’re a smaller company and have less

going on at once than a bank,” he said. “I always know exactly where our loans are at. I don’t have to ask someone else or even look it up on the computer.”

Meridian handles commercial and residential mortgages for big and small customers. Tribell said the company is already handling $1 million to $2 million in loans each month.

He declined to disclose what the startup costs were for Meridian Mortgage, but said he expects to earn it back in the first year of operations.

Morrison Architecture

Owner: Laura Morrison

Address: 120 Woodsdale Drive,

Eureka Springs 72631

Phone: (479) 363-9920

Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Monday-Friday

Startup date: Oct. 1

E-mail: [email protected]

For more than 10 years, Laura Morrison, a Mountain Home native, saw a lot of city growth, living in cities in California and Colorado.As a licensed professional architect trained in Arkansas, she knew that what she saw wasn’t always the smartest way for a community to grow.

This fall, Morrison and her husband Charles, from Eureka Springs, opened Morrison Architecture and Table Rock Design Studio, a full-service architecture firm located on the southern end of Table Rock Lake, north of Eureka Springs.

Morrison Architecture offers master planning, architectural design and interior design for all types of building projects, including health care, educational, office, retail, youth facilities and residential living space.

Morrison’s services also include 3-D imaging, from conceptual design to construction documents.