United Bank

For four straight years, United Bank’s annual return on assets was among a handful of the state’s best.

Last year, it dropped to a still-respectable 1.26 percent, and its return on equity dropped from a blistering 22.7 percent in 2001 to a less eye-popping 13.45 percent. But that’s what happens, President Jeff Lynch says, when you double your branch system by opening a second location and double your lending staff in order to make it all work.

United Bank purchased the second banking office in Fayetteville for $1.85 million from Simmons First Bank of Northwest Arkansas.

Lynch, who succeeded Hank Breshears as president in October 2001, says growth is the name of the game at United Bank. Its assets grew from $84 million to almost $111 million during calendar year 2002. The bank’s loan portfolio grew by 34 percent, and its deposits grew by nearly 35 percent.

The main office on South Thompson Street is being doubled in size through a new 30,000-SF addition, and last month, United purchased property in Rogers for another branch to be opened in 2004.

“What you’re going to see with us is a continued branch expansion,” Lynch said.

Founded as Little River Savings & Loan Association in Ashdown, United Bank – still a federal savings bank – has been located in Springdale since 1986.

Lynch credited Breshears with the bank’s continued high employee morale, a factor he said customers pick up on and embrace.

“Our employees have a clear vision of where we’re headed, and they’re excited,” Lynch said. “We’re becoming a northwest Arkansas regional bank rather than just a Springdale bank.”

Previous Honorees