The competitive field of banks in southern Clark County could triple in the near future. Bank of Delight (Pike County) has opened a branch in Gurdon, and Southern Bancorp Bank of Arkadelphia intends to open operations there.
What’s made the community of 2,100 suddenly so popular? Is the future opening of the Shandong Sun Paper pulp mill 10 miles north of town coming into play?
“That was a consideration,” said Darwin Hendrix, chairman and CEO of Bank of Delight. “But we had customers in Gurdon who were asking us, ‘Why don’t you all come to Gurdon?’”
That request was connected with the departure of U.S. Bank from Gurdon, leaving First State Bank of Lonoke as the lone lender operating a full-service branch in Gurdon.
First State entered the market about 20 years ago through the acquisition of the $29.7 million-asset First State Bank of Gurdon. That deal closed at about $3.6 million.
A Gurdon office represents Southern Bancorp’s third in Clark County and its 20th full-service branch in Arkansas.
In addition to its hometown headquarters, Bank of Delight also operates a full-service branch in Prescott (Nevada County).
“We’ve come a long way from $8 million in total assets when I started working at the bank in 1980 to more than $100 million today,” Hendrix said. “I always try to remember what my dad told me years ago: ‘Don’t ever forget what it’s like to sit on the other side of the desk.’”