Union Bank Upgrades Russellville Operation

A Google Street View image of Union Bank of Mena (© Google)

Mena’s Union Bank is expanding its presence in the $1.6 billion-deposit Russellville market with its first full-service branch.

The $665 million-asset lender is accomplishing the move by upgrading its loan production office, which opened last summer at 500 W. Main St., Suite 112. “Our goal is to be open by the first of July,” said Jarrod Yarnell, CEO of Union Bank.

Ten other banks are on the ground with full-service operations in Russellville. The LPO conversion represents full-service office No. 10 for Union Bank.

In addition to its Mena headquarters, the bank operates Polk County locations in Hatfield and Wicks along with a Waldron office in neighboring Scott County.

The Waldron operation was folded into Union Bank as part of the February 2024 charter consolidations with its sister lender: First National Bank of Paris (Logan County), which also operated branches in Booneville, Caulksville, Clarksville and Ozark.

Supported by a staff of 118, the bank recorded a $3.5 million profit during the first quarter to follow up on last year’s net income of nearly $11.7 million.

Russellville Bank Market

(*In thousands. Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.)

Tar Heel Quartet

The largest bank in Arkansas is in the process of adding four more full-service offices to its North Carolina operations.

The projects in Raleigh, Kernersville, Wilmington and Leland will increase Little Rock’s Bank OZK branch network to 28 in the Tar Heel State.

In Raleigh, the bank will set up shop on a 1.42-acre site at the southwest corner of Wake Forest Road and St. Albans Drive. The location was purchased for $2.4 million in December 2020. The largest player in the $77 billion-deposit market is Raleigh’s First Citizens Bank & Trust, which holds local deposits of $55 billion (70.65%).

In Kernersville, Bank OZK bought a 0.85-acre site at 502 E. Mountain St. for $475,000 in June 2024. The city of 28,000 is 10 miles east of Winston-Salem. The $1.5 billion-deposit market is led by Pinnacle Bank of Nashville, Tennessee, with local deposits of $434 million (28.28%).

In Wilmington, Bank OZK acquired a 3,500-SF former Truist Bank branch for more than $1.5 million in December 2024. The half-acre development at 2401 S. 17th St. will be the bank’s second location in Wilmington.

The branch at 1105 Military Cutoff Road holds deposits of $138.8 million (0.76%), the 11 largest share among 20 banks. The office opened under the Bank OZK banner on Oct. 29, 2012, four months after the 16,469-SF building was bought for $3.5 million from Regions Bank of Birmingham, Alabama.

Wilmington’s Live Oak Banking Co. holds local deposits of $10.8 billion (59.12%), the biggest slice of the $18.2 billion-deposit market.

Four miles west of Wilmington, Bank OZK intends to open at 2040 Olde Regent Way in Leland. The city is home to a population of 30,000.

The dominant lender in the $554 million-deposit market is Charlotte’s Truist Bank with local deposits of $255 million (46.05%).