Metro East Bank completes three-county expansion with renovation of Edwardsville building

Bank of Belleville has completed a $7 million expansion by adding locations it owns in Madison, Monroe and Clinton counties, and also has named a new chief lending officer.

Bank officials decided in 2018 to move into the three counties adjacent to St. Clair County, said CEO and President Ron Stephens. In 2019, the bank began to hire staff, operate virtually in the three markets ahead of construction and meet with architects.

“We struggled a little bit with what to do. Do we stop? Do we go? Do we slow down? Ultimately, we took a little bit of a breather in thinking about the expansion. We spent the better part of six months focusing on (Paycheck Protection Program) loans,” Stephens said, referring to the federal government-backed program to help businesses retain their workforce during Covid-19.

Bank of Belleville revisited the expansion in late 2020 and opened the three locations in 2021: Bank of Madison County in March in leased space in Edwardsville and two new buildings: Bank of Clinton County in New Baden in July and Bank of Monroe County in Waterloo in December.

In August, Bank of Madison County moved into an Art Deco building that the bank purchased and renovated in downtown Edwardsville, the former Illinois Bell Telephone facility at 119 S. Main St.

All three locations are divisions of Bank of Belleville. Stephens avoids the use of the word “branch.” He said the goal of the naming strategy was to tap into local loyalty with three brand names.

“We feel like we’re more than a branch because we have local shareholders. We have local market boards and presidents,” he said.

The general contractor on the buildings in Madison and Clinton counties was Plocher Construction, based in Highland, Illinois. D& F Contracting, of Smithton, Illinois, was the general contractor for the Bank of Monroe County building.

Earlier this month, the bank announced the appointment of Ryan Osterhage as chief lending officer. He has retained the title of market president of Bank of Monroe County. Osterhage succeeds Wade Weitlauf, who had worked for the bank since April 2019. Stephens said the change was made after a restructuring.

Since 2018, the bank’s assets have increased from $209 million to $450 million, with the number of full-time and part-time employees growing from 36 to 64.

The board of directors of the holding company, Belleville Bancorp Inc., owns about 23% of the Bank of Belleville. The remainder of the approximate 500 shareholders are in the single digits of percentages, Stephens said.

Bank of Belleville was organized in 2005 and the bank’s primary regulators are the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Illinois Division of Financial Institutions.

09/25/2023: Metro East Bank completes three-county expansion with renovation of Edwardsville building