BancorpSouth Opens In Rogers’ MetroPark

BancorpSouth made its full-fledged Northwest Arkansas introduction with a soft opening at MetroPark in Rogers on Nov. 23 and will celebrate with a grand opening of its 9,000-SF, two-story branch on Dec. 5.

The publicly held bank, with more than $13.3 billion in assets, has long had an extensive presence in the Fort Smith market with 10 branches holding 12 percent of the deposit share in the metro area.

It’s had a loan production office in Fayetteville with the capability of a full-service branch, but the Rogers location represents a true debut for its brick-and-mortar presence. The Fayetteville location will remain open, but BancorpSouth eventually plans to build a Washington County branch on a lot it owns near Willow Creek in Johnson.

“This market is a great place to be,” said BancorpSouth vice president Robin Simpson. “We are a large, sound, conservative regional bank that is committed to building in this market. This will go a long way toward helping people know we’re here.”

BancorpSouth announced recently it would not take the Federal government up on its offer of capital to shore up bank balance sheets, and it was also recently named No. 1 for customer satisfaction in the southeast region by J.D. Power & Associates.

Marty Lehman, who has worked in banking in Northwest Arkansas for 30 years including 17 with Arvest Bank, joined BancorpSouth in July as director of operations and branch manager in Rogers.

Lehman has also worked for Morgan Stanley and Delta Bank & Trust.

“We’re really looking forward to being a good alternative for community banking,” Lehman said.