Homebank Mexico Branch owner Byron Webb, Chief Lending Officer Angie Poppe, Associate Vice President of Agriculture Lending Halie Meyer, Community Bank President Mary Dickey, CEO Joe Thomas and retired Community Bank President Tom Nelson take part in a ribbon-cutting Thursday at the bank.

The Mexico branch of Homebank is officially open for business. The branch opened Tuesday and a ribbon-cutting was held there Thursday. It is the bank's eighth location after starting at Palmyra State Bank. A grand opening is planned March 26.

CEO Joe Thomas recognized that the opening took a little longer than planned. The delay was due to a harsh winter in 2018 and a very wet spring last year. Homebank broke ground on its Mexico branch Oct. 16, 2018.

At least a dozen staff members were at Thursday's ribbon-cutting. They welcomed other area business leaders. Mexico Area Chamber of Commerce President Grant Toellner presented Community Bank President Mary Dickey with the bank's first dollar of profit after the ribbon-cutting.

Architect Darin Prost designed the bank around branch owner Byron Webb’s desire to reflect Mexico’s prairie setting.

The bank has an open feel with high ceilings. Instead of a tall teller's desk, there is a station with a lower desk and a more open concept. There also is a third station that features a child's play area adjacent to the main station. The main station also can conduct drive-through banking.

"I told [Webb], If you want a prairie style design, you really need to go to Springfield, Illinois and see the Dana Thomas House. That is the true vision of the Prairie style architecture," Prost said.

That house served as the inspiration for the design of the Mexico Homebank branch. Each branch has its own unique design, Prost said, each reflecting the community in which a branch is located.

Dickey said she was extremely excited for Tuesday's opening and the ribbon-cutting, noting that the Mexico community has really accepted Homebank into the local fold.

"We've been waiting a long time for this day, so we're very excited to have it [open]," she said. "The weather hasn't been our friend through the whole thing, but that's OK. They say sometimes the best things are worth waiting for."

While a majority of the bank's business will focus on business clients, including agribusiness, the branch also offers personal banking, she said. Many customers have asked about bank fees, and Dickey said the bank does have no-fee checking accounts available.

"We [also] do home loans and we service them as well. So it's not that you do the home loan and it goes off somewhere else. We service the home loan," Dickey said. "We do all of that and a lot of ag and commercial."

cdunlap@gatehousemedia.com

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