Our Hometown

Well I guess Mayberry is a changin'?! Our lil' country oasis aint's just fer rednecks anymore!
We're gettin' one of those Italian places, a Penney's AND we're gettin' our first FIVE story building.
Yee-Haw!!!

City Becomes A Shopping Destination
A retail boom continues in **. The city has transformed itself into a shopping destination. News On ** anchor ** reports 70% of the city’s sales tax revenues comes from out-of-towners. There are new hospitals, stores, dozens of new restaurants, and much more. And, other things could be on the city’s horizon.

Construction has been a familiar sight in ** over the past few years. Work underway just off 96th Street North is where JC Penney’s will open its largest free-standing store in our great state. There will also be an Olive Garden and Ross at that location.

"In real estate, the old adage location, location, location is still the key driver that drives a lot of these decisions. **has a defined traffic pattern. US 1** just literally divides our city,” said RH, economic development director for**.
That location is helping to fuel growth. A new hotel will open soon, another is under construction, and dirt work is starting on a third.
Over the past 24 months, 20 new restaurants have opened. ** now hopes to attract a name brand book seller, and a large scale sporting goods store.
"Academy, Sports Authority, Gander Mountain, Dick's Sporting Goods and then Sportsman's Warehouse, have all at least been talked to,” said RH, economic development director.
The city has also talked with Cabela's which sells hunting, fishing, camping and outdoor merchandise at about two dozen giant stores across the country.
"We have talked to them. We are still talking to them, trying to get them to see our city as a future site, but we're not there yet,” said RH, economic development director.
"All I know is that when they get ready, we're ready to deal with them. We're ready to provide the right environment the kind of partnership, that would make them want to be a part of our city,” added RR, city manager for our city.
In addition to retail, the city is concentrating on attracting corporate offices. The goal is to create corporate campuses along Highway **.
"We're talking about having the ** corridor look like you are driving into Dallas, Texas. Good office buildings with good jobs. Major companies from around the United States and the world locating right here in our city,” said city manager, Rodney Ray.

Our city is working with corporate relocators to make the goal a reality. The city has a goal of creating 3,000 new jobs over the next four years, through corporate offices.
Our city will soon have another first - a five-story building.
Work has begun which will result in a new First Bank of oUr city Bank headquarters at *****. The five-story, 62,000 sq. ft. facility should be completed by 2010, according to DS (who goes to our church & whom we bank with), president and CEO.
The project is valued a more than $10 million, according to its building permit. First Bank is an our city institution. It was the city's original bank, opening on Sept. 8, 1962.

"We needed some more space for our lending activities, and felt it was time to relocate to the more visible Hwy. **corridor," DS said. "We felt we could build something that would really be a focal point at that location and thought it would be good for the community and the bank as well. It will also be a more convenient location for the vast majority of our clients." The bank's existing facility downtown will be sold within the next two years. "We do intend to sell the existing downtown location but have not begun serious negotiations given the two year time frame we are looking at," he said. The bank will occupy the first three floors of the building. Customer services, including safe deposit boxes, loans, home mortgages, investment services and client services will be on the first floor. The bank's operations department will be on the second floor with its commercial lending department on the third floor. The top two floors will be available for lease. "We will begin visiting with prospective tenants as soon as construction begins and anticipate that the leased space might be built out at the same time construction on the rest of the interior is done," DS said. The unique architecture of the building will feature a two-story atrium drum entryway, and the drum feature will provide a walkout balcony area accessible from the fifth floor. Inside there will be a place where organizations can schedule meetings and be accessed after banking hours. "We have a very nice community room planned on the second floor that will accommodate most any size community group. The building has been designed so the community room can be accessed after normal business hours," he said.

First Bank of our city is committed to encouraging the growth of faith-based organizations, working with churches and religious organizations in multiple states. With total assets of nearly $200 million, First Bank of our city is well positioned to continue serving the local community and the greater metro area. The bank currently has three locations in our city and employs 72 people.