A Mt. Pulaski-based bank with Springfield ties is planning to build its first local branch on Wabash Avenue.
The bank at 3741 Wabash Ave., near the Masons’ Grand Lodge, will be Longview Community Bank’s eighth location. Cam Pepper, chief marketing officer for Longview, said planning for the new branch is in the early stages and a timeline for the bank’s opening has not yet been determined.
Longview Community Bank is part of the Newman, Illinois-based Longview Capital Corp. bank holding company. Longview Capital, which has total assets of more than $1.2 billion, has been in growth mode in recent years. Part of that growth included acquiring Middletown State Bank in a deal that closed last year.
Middletown State Bank, which is now a Longview Community Bank branch, was an active lender in the Springfield market. Springfield real estate developer Bob Barker previously served as president of Middletown State Bank and now is on Longview’s board. Corky Joyner, a Springfield general contractor and developer, also serves on the Longview board.
“We had a lot of loan business that came out of Springfield, so it just made sense to have a presence there,” Pepper said.
Within the last month, Longview opened a loan processing office in Springfield at 3330 Hedley Road. And now the bank has decided to “to go ahead and make it into a full-fledge branch,” Pepper said. When the new branch on Wabash is completed, Longview will close the Hedley Road office.
Longview Community Bank, which specializes in mortgages and agricultural lending, has branches in Chestnut, Clinton, Gibson City, Greenview, Latham, Middletown and Mt. Pulaski. The bank will host an open house at its Hedley Road office on Nov. 6 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for anyone interested in finding out more about Longview’s offerings.