Customers of Trustmark Bank will soon be able to do business in Starkville.
The Mississippi-based bank announced Wednesday that a branch will locate in the shopping center next to Piggly Wiggly and will open by the end of September.
Trustmark is the second bank in a week to announce expansion plans into the Starkville market, joining Renasant, which hopes to have a temporary branch open in the next month.
Like Renasant, Trustmark breaks into the Starkville market for the first time after operating multiple branches in the Golden Triangle. Trustmark has five branches in Columbus and Lowndes County.
Close to 75 percent of Mississippi State University”s student body is from Mississippi, where 100 percent of Trustmark”s customers were for the first 100 years of its history. Its first out-of-state expansion wasn”t until 2001.
MSU”s rapid rise in enrollment, especially with in-state students, played a factor in opening a Starkville branch, Trustmark Senior Vice President and Director of Corporate Communications Melanie Morgan said.
However, the company had long explored expansion opportunities after consistent customer feedback about the lack of banking opportunities in Starkville.
“I wouldn”t say it was all college students because we have many customers in that area who aren”t,” Morgan said. “But the growth has been such that now is the time to enter that market.”
Trustmark hasn”t officially nailed down a grand opening date, pending regulatory approval. Its new location will see it neighbor with Newk”s restaurant, which will move into the former Movie Gallery in October.
Trustmark, which will sit between Newk”s and the Jeweler”s Bench, will be a full-service branch without drive-thru service. It will feature a walk-up ATM that allows customers to deposit checks and cash directly into their account. The ATM will also provide an image receipt to the customer.
The branch won”t offer wealth management, insurance or mortgage services but will direct customers to one of its branches in Columbus.
“Once we”ve seen the need to have a full-time staff there to manage those, we will,” Morgan said.
The Starkville Trustmark will be managed by Jennifer Oberschmidt, who managed a branch in Petal for the last four years.
Morgan said the Starkville Branch will generate four new jobs, possibly more depending on traffic.
Trustmark”s most recent in-state expansion was in Carthage after it acquired the Heritage Banking Group.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.