Plans Revealed for Bank Tennessee

By Daisy Fontaine
– The Collierville Herald –

BankTennessee, a full-service bank with headquarters in Collierville, will have plenty of visibility when its new headquarters is completed sometime in November, 1999. The 15,000 square-foot Greek Revival building will be under construction early in November on a 1 ½-acre lot east of Poplar View Parkway and south of Poplar at the entrance of Schilling Farms, said Jack Everett, president and CEO of the bank. Everett said the new building will have 30 to 40 employees.

An old-south atmosphere is what Everett says they are looking for. Inman Construction and Everett Construction of Collierville will build the structure, which was designed by Fleming Associates of Memphis. "We’re saving the ancient oaks on the property," said Everett. "And we’re making the building seismic-proof. But we probably will still get a small amount of train vibration, although the crossing is being built to lower the shaking of the trains."

A home-town bank, the last one in Collierville that is a chartered bank, will have a homey image, said the president: "We make our loan decisions right here in Collierville. This is BankTennessee’s executive office. The charter resides in Collierville." A full service bank, the institution offers a mortgage division, construction loans division, insurance affiliation, Small Business Association lending, consumer lending, and all deposit services. "We plan to keep the offices at First Federal Place open for a while, until we are settled in the new facility late next year. And we also have the ‘Piggy Bank’ on the Historic Square, two more banking outlets in Memphis – one at Poplar and Yates and another on Court Square downtown. We have a third in Ripley, Tenn."

Everett said all of the long-time staff members are remaining with the up-scaled bank. They include Wayne Rodgers, executive vice president; Wright Cox, executive vice president; Coleen Sumner, senior vice president; Carla Swindoll, Betty Edmunds, Eva Hewlett, Lisa Hollingsworth, Fel Morrison and Janet Jones.