Midwest BankCentre and Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church Break Ground for New Bank Branch

April 27 marked the start of construction for St. Louis’ first community bank to be located inside a church. The new Midwest BankCentre branch at Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church, 5515 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive in St. Louis, will open in late summer. Poised to turn dirt were (from left) Tony Edmonds, senior vice president-regional manager of retail banking; Jim Watson, president and CEO of the bank; 22nd Ward Alderman Jeffrey Boyd; St. Louis City Treasurer Tishaura Jones; St. Louis City Comptroller Darlene Green; Friendly Temple Pastor Michael Jones, Ph.D.; Charles Bryson, director of the St. Louis Civil Rights Enforcement Agency, representing St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay; Tony Grandison Jr., representing U.S. Congressman Lacy Clay; Alex Fennoy, the bank’s senior vice president-community and economic development director; and Fred Dyer, regional president-consumer banking and corporate services.

Midwest BankCentre with Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church today broke ground on a banking center at the church’s North St. Louis campus. Through this partnership, Midwest BankCentre and Friendly Temple will serve underbanked and underserved residents and businesses in the Wells-Goodfellow community.

The bank will take shape in the 5500 block of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive at Belt Avenue in repurposed office space to provide much-needed banking services in the community. It is scheduled for completion in August 2016. HisTime, LLC, an African-American-owned firm, is project manager/architect. Construction team selection is underway.

“Our partnership with Friendly Temple aspires to replicate the mutual success and community gains achieved in our initiative with Beyond Housing, when in 2012 we successfully launched the first community bank opened in Pagedale, Missouri,” said Jim Watson, Midwest BankCentre president and CEO. “As expressed in our theme of ‘Rising Together,’ Midwest BankCentre is committed to providing smart, sensible banking to St. Louis’ unbanked and underbanked citizens.”

The new bank will feature three indoor teller stations, customer computer kiosks, and a community meeting room with a big-screen TV, free WiFi and a whiteboard. Two drive-up banking lanes will be added, one of which will host a 24-hour ATM. Six professionals will staff the bank, which will become its fifth St. Louis City branch.

"We are pleased to partner with Midwest BankCentre for this significant endeavor that will provide financial services to residents and businesses in the Dr. Martin Luther King Corridor,” said Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church Senior Pastor Michael Jones, Ph.D. "This collaboration underscores our focus on community as we work to empower local families with financial resources and education, and equip local retail and business partners with the tools to help them succeed."

Friendly Temple is a 12,000-member bastion of the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood. Under Dr. Jones’ leadership, and since 1996 under the auspices of Robert Fulton Community Development, Inc., the church has invested more than $100 million in revitalizing areas bordering its campus.

Midwest BankCentre has been a mainstay of St. Louis community banking for 110 years. With total assets exceeding $1.6 billion, Midwest BankCentre is a locally-owned community bank that provides integrated financial services with expertise in commercial, retail and digital banking; business cash management; mortgage lending; and consumer lending.

“In serving neighborhood residents and businesses, Midwest BankCentre will continue to rely on local expertise, local reinvestment of deposits and local decision-making,” said Alex Fennoy, senior vice president-community and economic development director for Midwest BankCentre, whose office will be located at the new branch.

The bank is a local leader in the St. Louis Regional Unbanked Task Force and its Bank-On Save-Up St. Louis initiative. Since 2001, Midwest BankCentre has achieved the Bauer Financial 5-Star Superior financial rating for 61 consecutive quarters.