BANK OF AMERICA OPENS JACKSON FACILITY

For John M. Thompson and his staff, the mission of The Bank of Missouri and its banking ideals have proven to be a perfect match. So has the new facility at 233 W. Jackson Blvd. in Jackson.

"The neat thing for me, personally, is that those values match what I think banking values should be," said Thompson, former president of Community Bank of Jackson.

Thompson and his lenders, Brad Elfrink, Tina Weber and Cathy Roth, believe in the neighborhood approach to banking.

"We all live here, work here, shop here and go to football games here," Thompson said.

The Bank of Missouri philosophy of offering big-banking options with small-banking familiarity and friendliness, has helped it grow from a 100-year-old bank on the city square in Perryville, Mo., to a network of six banking offices and a mortgage facility. The new Jackson bank, which opened in January, is the latest but probably not last in the line of new facilities.

Bank started in 1891

The legacy began with the founding of the Bank of Perryville in 1891. More than 100 years later, the current generation of local stockholders opted to grow into a regional bank. The first move was to change the name from the Bank of Perryville to the Bank of Missouri.

Thompson thought it seemed like a good sign when a search discovered that the name "Bank of Missouri" had never been issued in more than 150 years of banking in the state.

"How fitting is that?" Thompson asked. "I thought it was a neat omen."

The bank opened a facility on Highway 51 in Perryville, then expanded to Cape Girardeau. A loan office was opened in Jackson and facilities in the TG-Missouri (formerly TG-USA) factory in Perryville and in Chateau Girardeau. The goal all along was for Jackson to eventually have a full-fledged facility.

Now that facility is open on Jackson Boulevard, across Highway 72 from the high school campus. The phone number is 243-9300, and the Web site is www.bankofmissouri.com.

"There will be some more growth in our future plans," Thompson said. "It will probably be regional in nature. We want to continue to grow."

Thompson has noticed that customers tend to feel a degree of ownership in a bank, unlike many other places they shop.

"People tend to say my bank,'" he said. "You never hear them say my Wal-Mart' or my gas station.'"

Therefore, Thompson said, the shared "passion for banking in the community you call home" fits like a glove. A product of the former Boatman's system, Thompson has seen the continued mergers and closings of banks have a negative effect on local customers.

That, he said, will not be the case here.

"We are not influenced by edicts from St. Louis or the East Coast," he said. "We have an outstanding board of directors. They're all outstanding leaders in the communities we serve."

Thompson noted that virtually all of the eight employees are Jackson High School graduates, and most have lived in Jackson all their lives.

At the same time, he said, the Bank of Missouri offers "world-class resources," including Internet banking, 800 informational numbers, and all the normal services expected of banks today.

"The customer gets everything everyone else (at bigger banks) does, but we're owned locally and decisions are all made locally," Thompson said.

He is part of a fourth generation of a community-minded Jackson family.

Roth is active in the Jackson Noon Optimist Club. Weber is active in the Jackson Jaycees and is on the city's park board. Elfrink is in the Knights of Columbus.

The four lenders have a combined 110 years of banking experience. Thompson felt that was quite appropriate in the 110th anniversary year for the former Bank of Perryville. Good omens, it would seem, abound for the Bank of Missouri.