Bell Bank is investing in downtown Owensboro by opening a mortgage lending office at 234 Frederica Street in the building that formerly housed Alorica. The company projects to hire 37 employees by year-end 2022 and grow the workforce to 178 employees by 2026.
Brittaney Johnson President/CEO of the Economic Development Corporation said that the bank will have an immediate economic impact on the community estimating $50 million annually.
“We are excited to work with [Bell Bank] and look forward to growing alongside you as we continue to move the community forward and look forward to a great partnership for many years to come.
Bell Bank’s Senior Vice President/Mortgage Servicing Director Bob Smiley announced that the transition to Owensboro was decided after seeing the population of Owensboro and also the current market.
“We were looking for where there were a fewer number of servicers and then we are trying to also match it a little bit with the Fargo operations [the headquarters of Bell],” Smiley said. “…So Owensboro has [the same feel] as it and it has the talent base here too.”
With the talent base here to pull from Smiley said they look to source the jobs out of current Owensboro residents and don’t plan to transfer anyone to the new location.
Smiley said they plan to bring in jobs that range from customer service roles to collections and insurance activity positions. They expect to add a number of managers to the staff as well.
Watson said this move to the downtown will be beneficial for the downtown as he said this provides a sense of density in the Downtown area.
“It’s the third leg of the stool that we’ve always talked about, we need density down there. We have entertainment, restaurants, and now we have density,” Watson said. “The more people we have down there the better our downtown moral.”
Bell Bank is a privately owned bank headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota. Bell Bank is the largest family-and employee-owned bank in the upper Midwest, and one of the largest privately-owned banks in the nation.
The announcement was made Monday afternoon by Bell Bank, the City of Owensboro, and the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corporation.
