New era for Western States begins with rebrand.A new bank brand has emerged in Wyoming following a merger completed earlier in the year. First Wyoming Bancorporation, Laramie, Wyo. – the holding company for Wyoming State Bank – merged in January with First Express of Nebraska, Inc., Gering, Neb. – the holding company for Valley Bank and Trust Co., and Western States Bank. The banks now come together under the name Western States Bank. The $525 million combined bank's holding company, First Wyoming Bancorporation, will remain in Laramie..Updated branding and signage have been unveiled by the company at all 14 of its branch locations. The bank also rolled out new electronic banking services, including a new online banking system and mobile app. Most bank staff members will remain on board with the renamed bank..Western States Bank now has two Cheyenne locations and one in Laramie. Nebraska branches are found in Gering, Bayard, Grant, Ogallala, Scottsbluff and Wauneta.."Reaching this milestone means our customers and communities will start to reap the rewards of a stronger, regionally integrated bank," said Gary Crum, president and CEO of Western States Bank. Crum was previously CEO of Wyoming State Bank.."This truly is a celebration for us and the beginning of a new era of community banking in Wyoming," said Craig Ockers, chairman of the Western States Bank board of directors. "Our new brand, e-banking tools and the synergy that has come with this shift, are representative of the great things to come.".The new Western States Bank brand is "representative of the geographies, communities and collaboration as the three banks come together," leaders of the combined bank said. The new brand's color palette evolved out of colors found in nature throughout Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado..Illinois deal keeps ownership local.Two Illinois community financial institutions that have been serving their markets since the 1960s have agreed to merge before the end of the year. United Community Bancorp, Inc., Chatham, and Illini Corporation, Springfield, Ill. – parent company of both Illini Bank and Farmers State Bank of Camp Point – announced a deal expressly resulting from a desire to keep Illini a home grown bank.."Several Illini shareholders approached us to submit a bid for Illini so that the bank could remain in local hands rather than selling to an out-of-area acquirer," said Robert A. Narmont, chairman and CEO of United Community Bancorp..The merger agreement ends a previous deal announced in March in which Morton Community Bank, Morton, Ill., said it planned to buy Illini. The $1.8 billion United Community Bancorp submitted a proposal for the acquisition of Illini Corporation in mid-May, and after certain shareholders of Illini became aware of the proposal, the Hometown merger agreement failed to achieve shareholder approval.."With United Community Bancorp, we believe we have reached a better financial arrangement for our shareholders and we will remain locally owned," said Greg Birky, president and CEO of Illini. "The merger is a good fit for our customers with the increased branch network in Sangamon and surrounding counties. It will also be a good fit for Farmers State Bank of Camp Point, with the presence United Community Bank has in west central Illinois.".Upon completion of the acquisition, United Community Bancorp will have $2.15 billion in assets and banks with a network of 45 branches in west central Illinois and northeast Missouri..Bank merger yields multi-state presence.Sunflower Financial Inc., Salina, Kan., and Strategic Growth Bancorp, El Paso, Texas, have agreed to merge, a move the banks call a merger of equals. The banks haven't announced plans for how the individual banks will be combined or branded. The deal will combine the two holding companies and their subsidiaries – Sunflower Bank, NA with Strategic Growth Bancorp's First National Bank of Santa Fe, Capital Bank and Guardian Mortgage Company, Inc..The resulting $4 billion bank will have a footprint including more than 60 offices in Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico and Texas. The corporate headquarters for the combined company will be in Denver with substantial office functions remaining in Salina, Kan. The combined holding company will be the third-largest banking institution headquartered in Colorado by total assets..Mollie Hale Carter, chairman and CEO of Sunflower, will serve as CEO and president of the combined holding company and CEO of the bank. Additionally, she will serve as co-chairman of the combined holding company and chairman of the bank. The board will have 10 members, comprised of an equal number of appointments from Sunflower and SGB..The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017.
