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Newly Renamed Anstaff Bank Plans Growth

5 min read

Anstaff Bank likes to keep things in the family.

That was obvious when the bank changed its name in July from First National Bank of Green Forest to Anstaff, a nod to the Anderson and Stafford families that have led the bank since its founding in 1931. Steve Stafford, CEO and chairman of the board, said many names were considered for the new branding but Anstaff just felt and sounded right.

“That name kind of came up in our discussion because we wanted the name to mean something,” Stafford said. “We really liked it because it kind of gave honor to the people who started the bank. The same families are still involved in the bank today.”

The name change was made because the bank is in expansion mode and moving outside of its historic base of operations will be easier with a nongeographic label in its name. Anstaff has nine branches in Carroll, Boone, Madison and Newton counties.

Stafford said the local community has been supportive of the name change.

“We’ve got very positive comments from the community,” Stafford said. “Many of our customers know the story and they were very pleased.”

Stafford said the bank is looking to expand but will be methodical in its approach to adding locations. When the bank does branch out, it will do so under the leadership of Stafford and the bank’s newly named president, Brad King.

He’s still family, though. King is Stafford’s son-in-law and has been with the bank for 22 years, most recently as senior vice president and chief lending officer.

King is the bank’s fourth president after Lum Anderson, Ray Anderson and Stafford, who became president at age 28 in 1978.

“There is some pressure because we’ve just been blessed since 1931,” said King, 44. “We have such a good bank going, and I don’t want to mess this thing up.”

King said Anstaff has spent 2014 organizing itself internally for the coming expansion. Stafford said he would like to see the bank either open new branches or acquire existing branches from established banks within 100 miles of Anstaff’s current base.

Anstaff has more than $410 million in assets with $44 million in equity capital. It had income of $5.5 million in 2013 and $3.95 million in the first three quarters of 2014.

“We’re looking at opportunities that might come around, but we’re not going to be in any big hurry,” Stafford said. “We’re prepared now to branch out a little further. We will be fairly conservative. We feel we’re capable, and we’re trying to make changes in our organization now where we could add a bank that has two or three branches without any issues.”

King said the ongoing internal reorganization is to help departments streamline the handling of bank business, which would increase with expansion. Anstaff executives said increased banking regulations make it imperative that smaller banks grow.

To Grow and to Serve

Anstaff’s overriding goal, King said, is to be a growing bank with a small-bank attitude toward service.

“I still follow Steve’s leadership in our overall plan, which is to grow at a manageable rate; if you grow too fast you can have problems,” King said. “We don’t want to be growing just to be growing.

As you get bigger, it gets harder.

“We are in a time and age that if you don’t grow, with the regulations coming down, you have to have these efficiencies. You have to grow into these efficiencies. We’re seeing the small banks get gobbled up. If that’s the case, then we don’t want that.”

Stafford, 65, said he has no plans to retire anytime soon. Ray Anderson, his mentor, served as president from 1942-78 and retired at 87.

Anderson was also Stafford’s great-uncle after marrying Stafford’s grandfather’s sister.

“I’m afraid it’s going to be a long time,” Stafford said. “I’m not ready to get out of banking. I’m ready to pass on some of my responsibilities, but I’m not ready to retire. I don’t know the day will ever come that I’ll walk out and don’t walk back in.”

As long as he is in charge, Stafford said, Anstaff will stay true to its small-town banking values.

“It’s important that as we look to expand in the future we have everything in place to take care of the people who got us where we are,” Stafford said.

“That’s the challenge with banks as you get bigger, to continue to take care of the people the way they deserve and the way they expect and the way they’ve become accustomed to over the years.

“We’re not out here to be a great big bank.”

‘A Lot of History’

Stafford said that when he was named president at 28, he didn’t feel any inordinate amount of pressure. King is less relaxed on the job but having Stafford to lean on and get advice from is a comfort, even though King said he has always worked extra to prove his success was not because of whose daughter he married.

“Steve still has an active role, but to give up the title, it was an honor to me,” King said. “It drives me more to work harder. There’s a lot of history here, and I want to keep that going.

“From day one when I started, Steve told me I had to prove myself just for the fact I was his son-in-law. I’m going to have to be here earlier and stay later and work my rear end off to prove to people I’m doing it for my skill set and not because of who I married. I’ve tried to work as hard as I could for 22 years to get to this position.”

King’s ascension to president seems a clear indication that the future of the bank will reside in his hands, some day. That day won’t come, of course, until Stafford steps away, something King is in no hurry to see.

“I want him to be satisfied with the decision he made 22 years ago,” King said. “I’ve learned everything through him, how he handles things and how he does thing. It’s a win-win-win all the way around.”

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