Farmers Bank & Trust of Blytheville is deepening its market penetration in Mississippi County with a Wilson location. The branch affords an opportunity that belies the size of the community (population 900).
Randy Scott, president of the $448 million-asset lender, said the proximity to the nearby Big River Steel complex proved too alluring to pass up.
“That was the deciding factor,” he said. “It gives us a presence in the southern part of the county, too.”
It also didn’t hurt that the sole shareholder in Farmers Bank & Trust, Gaylon Lawrence Jr., has substantial interests in and around Wilson.
In fact, Lawrence owns most of the town since his family bought the extensive land holdings of the heirs of Robert Edward “Lee” Wilson in December 2010.
The branch buy is a real estate-only deal with BancorpSouth Bank of Tupelo, Mississippi. The accounts will be consolidated in its Osceola branch.
As part of the transaction, the Wilson branch will close on June 24 and reopen under the Farmers Bank & Trust banner on Oct. 1.
The 55 Park Ave. branch was once home to the Bank of Wilson, which later morphed into American State Bank. The Wilson family sold the bank to BancorpSouth in December 2005 in a $44.7 million stock-cash deal.