FNBs new name: Landmark Bank
The decision to change the name of First National Bank to Landmark Bank this spring is part of The Landrum Co.’s long-running consolidation of its banks in three states, and CEO Andrew Beverley said the new moniker is a good fit.
“We tell people that we’ve been a landmark in the community since 1865,” Beverley said.
The combined worth of the consolidated holdings – which will collectively be known as Landmark Bank, with headquarters in Columbia – will be about $1.3 billion, according to bank forecasts, with capital in excess of $100 million.
Jeff MacLellan, chief executive officer and chairman of The Landrum Co., described the announcement as the culmination of years of work.
The project involving Columbia’s only locally owned bank started in the first quarter of 2008, he said, adding that recent difficulties in the financial markets had nothing to do with the decision.
“However, we look smarter for having done it,” MacLellan said. “Frankly this makes more sense now than maybe it did when we first started it.” The bank announced the change early to offset any fears of change given the current economic situation, he said.
Bank executives cited several reasons for choosing Landmark as the title of the consolidated operation.
“It’s a very solid name. A landmark is something that’s been there for a long time,” MacLellan said.
The change comes as the Landrum family celebrates a century in banking. Marquis Lafayette Landrum, the great-grandfather of the latest generation of Landrum children. In 1909, became majority shareholder of the Bank of Mountain View, later renamed First National Bank.
In 1964, the Landrum family purchased Columbia’s Broadway and Eighth Street location, which was at the time Exchange National Bank. Mark Landrum, a grandson of Marquis Landrum, remains the largest shareholder in The Landrum Company. The name was changed to First National Bank in 1971.
The bank will remain privately held. Although the Landrum Company owns about 81 percent of First National, 19 percent is owned by roughly 140 local shareholders. The company’s employee stock ownership plan also accounts for 25 percent of the company’s ownership.
Those shareholders will now own part of the combined bank.
The Landmark name first came into use with the company’s Oklahoma banks about 10 years ago, and The Landrum Co. owns the trademark to the moniker.
The company has banks under three titles: Columbia’s First National Bank and Trust Co., First National Bank in Southern Missouri, and Landmark Bank in Texas and Oklahoma.
The Columbia banks account for about 37 percent of Landrum’s total assets. Southern Missouri accounts for roughly 22 percent, while the Landmark wing holds 41 percent of the assets.
The consolidation has been taking place for years. The company started processing the Oklahoma banks in Columbia in 1988, bringing in the Southern Missouri banks in 1996. Recent years have seen the centralization of human resources functions, account services and electronic banking. MacLellan said the consolidation has “really been my job” since he became president of the holding company in 1995.
The company hasn’t announced all the organizational changes, but MacLellan said he does not foresee any jobs being cut in the project. Some employees will take on different roles, he added.
“This is not about loss of jobs; this is more about gaining efficiency,” he said. “By putting the banks together, it’s a whole lot easier to become more efficient, and make some of these functions more efficient.”
Customers can expect “almost no change,” Beverley said. “What we’re trying to emphasize to people is it’s the same bank, the same owners, the same great people. Just a new name.”
Response has so far been positive, Beverley said. “What customers want to hear – and are hearing – is that they’ll be dealing with the same people,” he said.
All decision-making will remain local, officials said, adding there’s no risk the bank will lose it’s community focus.
“That’s a core part of our philosophy,” MacLellan said. “That started at the top of the list,” of Landrum family concerns as the consolidation began taking shape,
“We’re proud of the leadership role that our bankers have in the community. That will not change at all,” Beverley said.
For commercial customers, the consolidation means a larger legal lending limit.
The consolidation will open the door to several benefits, from easier recruiting to better access to more sophisticated banking products, MacLellan said.
“The bigger resources of a bigger bank honestly allow you access to things you heretofore didn’t have access to,” he said.
The company declined to provide specifics on the consolidation’s cost. “It’s not insignificant, I’ll tell you that. But I think it’s worth the final outcome,” MacLellan said.
The company’s signage won’t change until the project is finished, officials said. Currently the consolidation is slated to finish by spring. It still lacks regulatory and shareholder approval, but MacLellan said he didn’t expect any difficulties with either.