First State to keep Premier staff, locations

Premier Bank customers might initially notice little more than a change in signage after the bank is taken over by First State next week.
First State Vice Chairman and CEO Greg Allen said the bank has retained the majority of Premier’s staff and will maintain its Columbia locations as they are.
“Our niche is customer relationships,” Allen said. He added that the relationships are aided when customers see the same faces when entering the bank, which provides a more personal relationship between banker and customer.

First State Community Bank, based in Farmington, acquired Premier’s three Columbia locations in late March. The transition is on schedule to be completed July 2, Allen said, noting that all regulatory approvals have been received.
The new bank has retained and retrained all previous Premier employees who wished to stay, Allen said. First State also has no plans to make structural changes to branch locations in Columbia, he said.
Allen said customers will receive new First State debit cards, checks and loan information in the mail. It is very important that former Premier customers read the documentation and deadlines that accompany the new products so customers know when to transition to the new items, he said.
Although changes might not be evident initially, Allen said customers can look forward to new products and new account choices. He also said he thinks First State will be able to meet the lending needs of more customers.
As previously reported in CBT, the purchase continues a legacy of expansion throughout eastern Missouri. First State, which opened in 1954, has been buying bank branches in small communities since 1980, and with the Premier purchase First State will have 32 locations in 24 communities. It has operations in Hillsboro, Sikeston, Warrenton, Owensville and Cape Girardeau, among others. It runs insurance companies in addition to its banking operations.
Premier Bank opened in Jefferson City in 1995, expanded into Columbia in 1998 and moved into the St. Louis metro area in 2003. By 2006, it had $1 billion in total assets. But as real estate values began plummeting, Premier sustained heavy losses in the past two years. In March 2009, the Federal Reserve put Premier Bank’s holding company under supervision.
Allen said that conversions during and after a bank acquisition can be difficult for both staff and customers but credited Premier employees for helping make the transition easy. The only problem, he said, was occasionally getting the computer technicians to talk to one other.
Columbia will become First State’s largest market when the bank officially takes over the former Premier locations. Allen said though the bank might keep expanding, he is not looking at locations in larger metropolitan areas such as St. Louis or Kansas City.
Allen said he feels Columbia is a good location for First State and looks forward to being part of the community.
“We want to grow slow and steady with Columbia as it grows,” Allen said.