East Texas Business

By GREG JUNEK
Business Editor

BancorpSouth, which for two years has quietly gone about its business in the Rose City, will build a new and more visible branch in an area frequented by young professionals - Tyler's medical community.

A.R. Lay Construction Inc. will build the 2,900-square-foot branch at 1721 S. Beckham Ave., the southwest corner of South Beckham and East Fifth St. Tyler building permits indicate the estimated investment to be $1.35 million.

Mike Henderson, community president, said officials hope for a first quarter 2009 move-in.

"We've been kind of dragging, so if we can get going on the construction now that we've got the permits done and the contractor in place, then we'd like to be in there by March for sure," Henderson said.

The new office will not be the bank's main location, but it will serve a niche market by the hospitals, he said.

Plans are to locate the future main branch on Tyler's growing south side. Henderson said the bank is still looking for a site for that branch.

The Tupelo, Miss.-based institution opened a loan office in Grande Plaza, 212 Old Grande Blvd., in May 2006, and about a year ago became a full-service bank.

"When we came here, we opened as a loan production office, and obviously, to service our customers that we've built up over time, we have to create a facility that's convenient and accessible to them," Henderson said.

The bank, however, will keep its original Grande Plaza location open. That office employs nine people and is looking to add one more employee.

Henderson said the new South Beckham branch will probably employ 10 additional people, bringing the bank's approximate total employment in Tyler to about 20. That number will again increase, perhaps double, when the main branch is opened.

That branch will allow the bank to bring its ancillary services to Tyler, he said.

BancorpSouth stock on Tuesday closed up 38 cents, or 1.74 percent, at $22.23 per share.

The bank has about 300 branches in eight contiguous states. Its Texas locations include Marshall, Lufkin, Longview, Nacogdoches and Texarkana.

Its assets total approximately $13 billion.

BancorpSouth's net income for the second quarter was $40.1 million, from $35.9 million for the same quarter last year. Earnings per diluted share were 49 cents, from 43 for the second quarter 2007.