Iberiabank to Close Two NWA Branches

IberiaBank is planning to streamline its network of branches by closing two locations in Northwest Arkansas.

Pete Yuan, president of the bank’s Arkansas region, confirmed that branch offices at 3942 Elm Springs Road in Springdale (6,237 SF) and 2710 E. Mission Blvd. in Fayetteville (3,807 SF) would close on March 21.

Both properties are already listed for sale by Sage Partners in Fayetteville for a combined $3 million.

The closures will leave IberiaBank with two offices in Rogers, and one each in Springdale, Fayetteville and Bentonville.

IberiaBank, a subsidiary of publicly traded IberiaBank Corp., a financial holding company headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana, will have 30 branch locations in Arkansas after the closings, with eight of them in Little Rock.

Yuan said the decision to close the Northwest Arkansas offices was made late last year, but reiterated the closures do not reflect a change in commitment by the bank toward Northwest Arkansas.

In 2015, the bank promoted Chris Howe to senior vice president, commercial banker and business banking manager for Northwest Arkansas, and Yuan said the Northwest Arkansas sales team serving the bank’s treasury management and wealth advisors divisions has also expanded.

“All in all, the team we have on the ground in Northwest Arkansas today is stronger than we have ever had since our entry [into the Northwest Arkansas market] in 2007,” Yuan said.

As of June 30 last year, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., IberiaBank had total deposits in its four Washington County banks of $116.2 million, which ranked No. 10 among the 24 banks with at least one branch in the county.

IberiaBank has 39 employees in Northwest Arkansas. The two closures will eliminate seven full-time positions. Three of those workers have already taken other jobs within the company.

“We are hopeful that the other four employees can be retained through our normal branch attrition cycle,” Yuan said.