Twelve of the 103 banks chartered in Arkansas have branches in other states. One of them is Farmers Bank & Trust of Magnolia, which was doing business 50 miles away in Texarkana, Texas, even before it acquired 1st Bank early last year.
Two weeks ago, FB&T opened a de novo branch in the north Dallas suburb of Prosper, about 225 miles from home.
“We already had so many customers over there that it was a natural fit for us to move over there and service them,” CFO Drew Chandler said. He described those customers as legacy customers from Farmers, not customers acquired along with 1st Bank.
FB&T hired a familiar name to tackle the big city market: Mack Streety, formerly of Jonesboro’s Liberty Bank of Arkansas and then of its acquirer, Centennial Bank of Conway.
Texas is Streety’s old stomping ground. His LinkedIn page says he’s an Aggie, and he worked for various banks in Texas earlier in his career.
“Going into more of a growth market is going to be a new thing for us,” Chandler said. There are no current plans for additional branches.