Bank of Ozarks Files Application for Bentonville Branch
by February 14, 2005 12:00 am 167 views
Little Rock-based Bank of the Ozarks filed an application on Feb. 9 for its first official bank location in Northwest Arkansas.
The application with the Arkansas State Bank Department is for a branch at Arkansas Highway 102 and S.W. “D” St. in Bentonville.
Melvin Edwards, vice president with BOZ, said the location is a vacant lot next to the Ruby Tuesday restaurant, just down the road from Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s headquarters.
Edwards said the bank has operated a mortgage loan origination office at 1714 S.W. Commerce St. in Bentonville since late last year, and if the application is approved, the office will serve as a temporary bank until a full-service bank can be built. The typical BOZ office is about 2,800 SF, Edwards said.
BOZ hopes to hear if the application is approved or not within 45 days, he said.
The ASBD has not denied a branch application since 1988.
Meanwhile, the Bank of the Ozarks is awaiting the outcome of another application, this one filed late last year for a branch in Jacksonville.
Larry Wilson,chairman, president and CEO of First Arkansas Bank & Trust, filed a formal protest with the state Bank Department, saying Jacksonville is “overbanked” and the branch application should be denied.
State Bank Commissioner Robert H. “Bunny” Adcock is expected to decide the matter in March.
More on New Bank Branches
Other banks plan branches in Bentonville, home of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Click here for more.