Bank in Talco in final chapter of nearly 100-year history
By LYNDA STRINGER - Tribune City Editor
Friday, January 2, 2009 11:10 AM CST
TALCO – Residents in this rural community are used to driving to Mount Pleasant to take care of business. However, they will soon have to add a stop at the bank to their ‘To Do' list when they go to town. The Talco branch of Guaranty Bond Bank will close its doors Feb. 27.
"The decision to close the Talco location was not an easy decision to make, but one that our company felt was the right decision," said Joe Rose, president of Guaranty's Bogata branch, who has been stepping in to help the Talco location since its branch manager, Jo Anschutz, retired in November.
The fate of the Talco location has been precarious for years as the town's business community continues to decline. Rose said with Anschutz's decision to retire, "the timing seemed right" to announce the closing.
"We have talked about doing it for about five years," he said.
"The only reason we've stayed on so long is because of the community," said Alisa Boatner, assistant vice president at the Mount Pleasant branch.
Anschutz has decided to go back to work. She will return to the Talco location on Monday and currently plans to work at the Mount Pleasant branch after the bank in Talco closes.
"Retirement just wasn't for her. That decision was made just this week," Rose said.
Rose and Boatner pointed to two main factors that led to the decision to close the bank: lack of growth in the community and security concerns for the branch, which is located in an isolated area on Broad Street in Talco's downtown area.
"We have long had concerns about security issues for our officers and employees in that location and with the decline of other businesses located in Talco, that concern grew," Rose said.
The bank has a long history in the town, which is 15 miles north of Mount Pleasant on Highway 271.
For decades, it was Talco State Bank, which opened in 1912, with Morris and E.L. Lilienstern serving as bank presidents, Morris Lilienstern until 1917 and E.L. Lilienstern from 1917 to 1945. Felix Jones, the patriarch of the Jones family, well-known in this area, took over in 1945, serving as president until 1966 when he handed the reins over to his son, Jerry Jones.
He passed the presidency down to his son, Rusty Jones, in 1988 and Felix Jones' son, Virgil, took over when it became Guaranty Bond Bank Oct. 24, 1996. Virgil Jones moved to Mount Vernon when Guaranty opened a location and he still serves as bank president there.
"Because of the long-standing relationship with the Jones family, it was a tough decision for us," Rose said. "But, we felt like we had to do it."
Boatner said the Talco closing is not a reflection on the bank's overall health. She said all of its other branches are doing well and the bank plans to add two new locations in Bowie County. Boatner also said all of the employees at the Talco branch would keep their jobs with Guaranty.
"All of those employees will have the option of transferring to another location of their choice," she said.
Guaranty Bond Bank first opened its doors in Mount Pleasant in 1913 and began expanding throughout East Texas in the 1990s. Other than the Talco location, the bank has branches in Mount Pleasant, Mount Vernon, Bogata, Pittsburg, Texarkana, Sulphur Springs, Ft. Stockton and Commerce. The bank announced expansion plans in September to add a third branch in Texarkana and a branch in New Boston.
Anschutz, who was born and raised in the Talco-Sugar Hill area, has worked at the Talco bank for 33 years. She began her career there when it was Talco State Bank in 1975.
"I started out working for Jerry Jones and I worked for Rusty, too. When we became Guaranty, Rusty moved to Mount Pleasant and Virgil Jones moved back here. He worked with me for several years until they built a location in Mount Vernon," she said. "So, I have worked for three generations of Jones'."
Anschutz said it is hard to see the branch close because it has been an integral part of the community.
"It's hard to do, but I see what's happening because Talco is not growing. That's one reason, and we don't have the loan demand to make the money to keep it open," Anschutz said.
She said she would greatly miss her coworkers and the community. "In this time, I have worked with lots of really nice people, the employees and the customers, the banking family," Anschutz said.
Anschutz's long-time co-worker, Linda Brown, the branch's administrative officer, has worked there for 19 years.
"I married a Talco boy. I'm actually from Mount Pleasant, so I've been in this area for 28 years," Brown said. "It is sad. It has been great working here. It's a small town and everybody knows everybody. They are not just our customers. They're our friends and our family. It kind of breaks our hearts."
Brown said most of the customers are upset. "But, they look around and know that times are changing. The small communities are slowly disappearing and, like the rest of us, they've been kind of expecting it to happen one day," she said.
Customers taking care of their banking business on Wednesday afternoon echoed the same sentiments.
"I'm disappointed," said Barbara Williams. "They've been here a long time and there are wonderful people in there. I'm really going to miss them. It has to be progress, though, I guess."
Denise Hall said she was sad to hear the bank is closing and will have to go to Mount Pleasant to do her banking, something that her passenger, Landel Cathcart, Jr., called a big inconvenience.
"The bank closing is bad news. That's quite a ways just to go to the bank and pick up a few items," Cathcart said.
The drive to Mount Pleasant was also a concern for John Mears, owner of Mears Ranch, who has been a customer for almost 30 years.
"It's going to make me have to drive further to deal with the bank," Mears said.
He makes trips to Mount Pleasant on a regular basis, so he said he would have to plan his trips to the bank there as well.
"It won't be much of a problem. It is just kind of convenient here," he said.
Brown said Guaranty's decision to build a full-service ATM machine would take some of the sting out of the location's demise.
"It should help a lot," she said. "
Rose said Guaranty is still in negotiations over its ATM service contractor and plans on when the ATM would be built are still pending. The bank is in the process of acquiring a piece of property at the intersection of Highway 271 and Highway 71.
"That would make it easy for the local townsfolk," he said.
"It will also serve people traveling on the highway," Brown said.
Rose said he would continue to help at the Talco bank after Anschutz returns in an effort to build a relationship with customers who plan to use his branch in Bogata, which is just 10 miles from Talco.
"Our desire is to maintain our long-standing, strong relationships with the customers and residents of Talco," he said.
Guaranty has also proposed donating the bank building to Rivercrest ISD, which is centered halfway between Talco and Bogata.
"We are actively pursuing options to try and keep a viable business in the bank building in Talco," Rose said.
The idea is to have the school district use it as its administration building. Rose said the school district would not discuss the proposal again until its January board meeting.
Anschutz and Brown were both positive about the future for themselves and for the community.
"It's going to take some transition, but it will end up being OK," Anschutz said.
