Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Mendenhall Branch Grand Opening

Our brand new Mendenhall branch recently opened its doors for business. Below is a brief history of POB and some photos from the grand opeing.

HISTORY OF PRIORITYONE BANK



Bank of Simpson County was formed by a group of Simpson County citizens and started operation in 1975 and branched into Mendenhall in 1978.   In 1987 State Bank & Trust Company of Collins was purchased by Bank of Simpson County.  This expanded the bank to five branches serving Simpson and Covington counties.  In 1994 the same group of principal shareholders who owned both Bank of Simpson County and Citizens Bank & Trust Company in Morton merged the banks. The three banks, State Bank & Trust Company, Bank of Simpson County and Citizens Bank & Trust Company became Citizens State Bank in 1994. The resulting bank had $125 million in total assets with a total of ten branches.  The bank’s service area was then Simpson, Scott, Rankin and Covington counties with the home office being in Magee, MS.  To set us apart from our competition, the name of the Bank was changed from Citizens State Bank to PriorityOne Bank.

Since 1975 the bank has seen tremendous growth due to our loyal customers and dedicated employees.  Currently, PriorityOne has $505 million in total assets and approximately 170 full-time employees with eleven offices.  The bank has most recently expanded with new branches in Richland, MS and Hattiesburg, MS and has purchased a lot for future expansion in Hattiesburg.  Also, PriorityOne acquired The Mortgage Centre, a mortgage lending company based in Hattiesburg with a branch in Brandon.  PriorityOne Insurance Agency is a division of the bank and the bank owns a significant interest in Title Services, LLC and Commercial Title Services.  The Bank operates a separate operations center located across the street from the main office and occupies additional office space in downtown Magee.  The bank has a contractual partnership arrangement with Raymond James Financial Services to provide alternative investments such as fixed annuities, variable annuities, mutual funds, stock brokerage services, financial planning, life insurance and long term health insurance.

PriorityOne Bank is proud of the fact that it remains an independent community based bank that is expanding and growing to serve the vast financial needs of customers in Central and South Mississippi.  Local banking is what separates PriorityOne from other banks in our market.  We are proud of the fact that we are the number one Community Bank in terms of market share in the markets we serve.    

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Odean Busby elected treasurer of Mississippi Bankers Association


JACKSON – Odean Busby of Magee has been elected treasurer of the Mississippi Bankers Association.
Busby will be a member of the Board of Directors, which governs the 122-year-old association. MBA's membership includes commercial banks and savings institutions, which hold 99 percent of the bank deposits in Mississippi.
Busby serves as chairman of the board and CEO of PriorityOne Bank in Magee.  He has been with the bank for 31 years.
Busby earned a bachelor's degree in banking and finance from the University of Southern Mississippi. He is also a graduate of the Mississippi School of Banking at the University of Mississippi and the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University.
     Involved in the association, Busby has served as the past chairman for the Mississippi School of Banking Trustees, as a member of the MBA legislative committee, and as a member of the American Bankers Association's Government Relations Council. He also serves as chairman of the Mississippi Guaranty Pool Board.
     Active in his community, Busby is a member of the boards of trustees for William Carey University and Magee General Hospital and the director of the Simpson County Economic Development Foundation.
     Busby and his wife Glinda have two grown children, Jason (and wife Robin Busby) and Molly (and husband Chris Barron). They have three grandchildren: Kate, Brooke and Ian.


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