Today’s Bank, First Community Bank planning strategic branch expansions in Northwest Arkansas

A pair of Arkansas banks are planning additional branches in new markets in Northwest Arkansas.

Today’s Bank, the only Arkansas bank headquartered in Huntsville (Madison County), is nearing completion of the construction of a bank branch at 181 Slack St. in Pea Ridge. Chartered in 1991 as First State Bank of Northwest Arkansas — it rebranded in 2014 — the bank has 10 full-service bank locations in Huntsville (2), Fayetteville (2), Alma, Mansfield, Mulberry, Ozark, Springdale and Van Buren and assets of $332.1 million as of June 30, 2023. The Pea Ridge branch will be its first in Benton County.

Springdale developer Sam Mathias, who owns the bank’s holding company, Mathias Bancshares Inc., bought the land for the building last year for $425,000. President and CEO David Scruggs says there’s no definitive opening date, but he expects a “soft opening” sometime in November. When it does, it will be the third bank with at least one full-service branch in Pea Ridge, joining Kansas-based Equity Bank and Fayetteville-chartered Arvest Bank.

In Washington County, state bank officials have approved a new branch at 3150 W. Wedington Drive in Fayetteville for Batesville-chartered First Community Bank.

Stuttgart-based Farmers & Merchants Bank owns the building but recently closed the branch. It was one of the company’s Interactive Teller Machine (ITM) locations. The building is under contract to change hands later this fall.

“With two fully-staffed branches within 5 miles of Wedington and multiple locations in the region, we will continue to provide best-in-class service to our customers,” said Matt Mason, Northwest Arkansas market president for F&M, which does business in Fayetteville as The Bank of Fayetteville.

Natalie Bartholomew, First Community Bank’s Northwest Arkansas market president, said the building will be renovated, and the bank branch will open next spring. That’ll give Fayetteville 30 banks with at least one full-service branch.

First Community Bank opened its first Northwest Arkansas office in October 2022 at 5100 W. Park Ave. in Rogers’ Pinnacle Heights development west of Interstate 49. The bank has 33 locations in Arkansas and Missouri and had assets of $2.61 billion as of June 30, 2023.