With branches sprinkled across the Golden Triangle, Renasant Bank has long been an absent player in the Starkville market.
Tuesday, the $4.2-billion, 107-year-old financial institution announced it would join the growing market and have a branch operational, at least at a temporary location, in as little as 45 days.
The Starkville market is Renasant”s eighth expansion in the last 12 months. It recently acquired banks in Montgomery, Ala., and in Roswell and Jasper, Ga.
Renasant”s Columbus branch opened last year, and the company has banks in Aberdeen, West Point and Louisville.
Its corporate headquarters is in Tupelo.
Before Tuesday”s announcement, though, the only sign of Renasant in Starkville was an ATM in the Colvard Student Union at Mississippi State University.
“Indeed, there was a very significant hole there in Starkville,” newly appointed Starkville Division President Tommy Tomlinson said. “Obviously, the university plays a huge part in the decision. The economy holds up nicely there, and there”s pretty good growth.”
Tomlinson, former regional president at Cadence Bank in Starkville, officially joined Renasant on Tuesday. He spent 28 years with Cadence and said the switch to Renasant was a “positive” move to join a bank that”s community oriented.
“That”s exactly how I am, so that”s a good fit to start with the same philosophy,” Tomlinson said.
Tomlinson is an MSU graduate with a degree in banking and finance. He also attended the Mississippi School of Banking, Installment and Commercial Lending Schools at Oklahoma University, Commercial Lending School at Vanderbilt University and the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University.
“Starkville is a growing market and with Tommy Tomlinson joining us to lead Renasant”s entrance, the opportunity for us is tremendous,” said Scott Cochran, Mississippi Division president. “With Tommy, we have an experienced and well-respected professional who knows the Golden Triangle area. And with his ties to Mississippi State and his 30-plus years of experience in community banking, we are poised for a successful entrance into the Starkville banking market.”
Renasant hasn”t identified a location for its temporary branch, but Tomlinson said he would be “very disappointed” if a site was determined in the next few days.
Once a temporary site is located, Renasant will have to wait another 30 days for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to approve its address.
“In Starkville, there”s very limited office space available,” Tomlinson said. “The location we want to have for the temporary location will probably have some administrative offices, then we”ll have a remote site for teller and retail operation.
“I think, hopefully, we”ll be able to finalize the main office site in the next couple of weeks,” Tomlinson added. “From the time we settle on a lot, you”re looking at 18 months to get it built and operational.”
Tomlinson expects the temporary Renasant Bank branch in Starkville to generate between 10-15 local jobs that will be filled with new hires. He expects more jobs to be available once the permanent branch is complete, but couldn”t give an exact figure.
Joining Tomlinson in the move from Cadence is Jim Ferguson, who”ll serve as senior vice president and trust officer at Renasant. Current Renasant employee Jeff Overstreet, an MSU graduate, will be responsible for servicing commercial and consumer loan clients in the Starkville market.
Renasant Corp., the parent company of Renasant Bank, has assets of approximately $4.3 billion and operates more than 75 banking, mortgage, financial services and insurance offices in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia.
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