Cornerstone Bank Planning Expansion Into Madison County

by Paul Gatling ([email protected]) 220 views 

Eureka Springs-based Cornerstone Bank is planning to enter a new market.

Cornerstone president and chief executive officer Charlie Cross said in a news release May 23 the bank has purchased 1.4 acres in Madison County with plans to construct a full-service facility.

This will be the bank’s fifth location and the first outside of Carroll County. 

The property is in Huntsville on Highway 412, adjacent to a Walmart Supercenter under construction.

Cross said design plans are incomplete, but construction would begin in the near future, serving as a springboard for further expansion.

“We are pleased to continue our bank’s aggressive growth strategy with a full service banking facility in Huntsville,” he said. “It is a market we have coveted and admired for quite some time and we are excited to bring our brand of true community banking into that community.”

Cornerstone posted total assets of $160.3 million in 2013 — a 31 percent increase from 2008 — and income of $2.49 million. It had 1.19 percent return on assets.

“Our bank has performed exceptionally well in recent years and we hope to continue growing our geographical footprint moving forward,” Cross said.

Chartered May 4, 1912, the private bank changed its name from Bank of Eureka Springs in 2008 and celebrated its 100th birthday in 2012. Cornerstone has two locations in Eureka Springs and one each in Holiday Island and Berryville.