[responsive-slider id=1837]
DeLand-based Mainstreet Community Bank of Florida is expanding into Ocala with its second branch outside of Volusia County and seventh branch overall.
Mainstreet recently got approval from federal regulators to open the new branch, said bank President and CEO Ben Flowers.
“Now it’s just a matter of getting it open,” Flowers said.
Mainstreet will be moving into a building at 112 N. Magnolia Ave. that once housed Ocala National Bank, then the Ocala/Marion County Visitors and Convention Bureau, according to the Ocala Star-Banner.
It will be a four- to five-month process to refurbish the interior to suit Mainstreet’s needs, Flowers said. The new branch could open by the end of this year.
“It will be a full-service branch with drive-through lanes,” Flowers said.
Mainstreet also received permission to open a temporary office a couple of blocks away that’s expected to open in 60 days or so, he added.
A new regional president, Angie Clifton, has been hired to oversee the downtown Ocala branch.
“Angie is a lifetime Ocala resident and a career banker,” Flowers said. “She’ll be hiring the team members, and we know she’ll do a great job.”
Plans are to hire seven more full-time employees and two part-timers, said Stephanie Koshiol, Mainstreet’s chief financial and chief operations officer.
“As a result of this growth, we will also be adding support staff to our operations and administrative areas of the bank,” Koshiol said. “These total another four full-time positions and will be located here in DeLand.”
Flowers said the expansion into Ocala and Marion County is a natural progression in Mainstreet’s growth.
The locally owned bank started in Downtown DeLand in 2003, added a second DeLand branch on Spring GardenAvenue and then one on Volusia Avenue in Orange City. A second branch in Orange City later opened in John Knox Village.
Mainstreet reached East Volusia in 2015 with a branch in Holly Hill, and expanded into Clermont in Lake County the following year. Now, Mainstreet expands into Marion County, too.
“Ocala kind of ties into Lake County,” Flowers said. “Ocala is a vibrant market, and some of our existing customers have businesses there.”
Mainstreet Community Bank of Florida is a state-chartered, FDIC-insured community bank that offers a complete line of banking and other financial services to commercial and retail customers. More information is on the company’s website, www.bankonmainstreet.com.
