United Bank Planning Entry into Bentonville Market

United Bank is moving forward with plans to open its first branch in Bentonville.

The Springdale-based lender has acquired land for the new branch, a 3.11-acre site at the corner of Arkansas Highway 102 and Been Road, for $1.02 million.

Han and Sunny Chung of Colorado were the sellers.

United Bank president and CEO Nathan Gairhan said the bank is still working on the design concept, and construction isn’t expected to start until 2017, with an opening target date of the first quarter of 2018.

Harrison French & Associates (HFA) of Bentonville is handling the design work.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to better serve our clients in the Bentonville and Centerton market,” Gairhan said. “We are excited about the location, and we want to be an integral part of both of those communities. Several of our employees already live there, so we think this will be a great fit for our bank.”

The new location will be a full-service branch with a full complement of loan and deposit services, Gairhan said.

United Bank was started in 1978 by Don Pitts, and has had the same ownership since it was founded. It currently has four branches — two in Springdale, one in Fayetteville and one in Rogers. United Bank also operates a loan production office in Fort Smith.

As of March 31, United Bank had assets of $158.2 million, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that’s up 13.2 percent from the same time in 2015.

There are 15 banking institutions with at least one retail branch office in Bentonville, according to the FDIC. In addition, Booneville-chartered First Western Bank and First National Bank of NWA — a division of First National Bank of Fort Smith — are currently building new branch locations in Bentonville, which will up the number to 17.