Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
New Mexico Bank & Trust announced last week it will close its Logan branch on June 10. That would leave Logan without a bank for the first time in more than a century.
LOGAN - Barring some sort of intervention in the coming weeks, the village of Logan will be without a bank for the first time in more than a century.
New Mexico Bank & Trust will close its Logan branch on June 10, said company CEO and President Greg Leyendecker in an email Friday to the Quay County Sun. It is the only bank in Logan.
"We continually assess and review our strategy and effectiveness in the markets where we operate, and this decision followed a careful evaluation of many factors, including operating expenses, employee resources and proximity to alternate locations," Leyendecker stated about the Logan branch's imminent closing.
That would be less than 18 months after New Mexico Bank & Trust acquired it and several other banks in the region during its acquisition of FNB New Mexico in February 2021.
Leyendecker said his company's Tucumcari branch remains open and available for Logan customers and that New Mexico Bank & Trust continues to offer electronic services such as online and mobile banking, telephone banking and debit cards.
"We've informed our employees, all who have the opportunity to relocate or apply for open positions within the organization, and we are beginning to notify impacted customers," he wrote.
It was unclear how many people the Logan branch employs. Leyendecker did not answer an email requesting that information, and New Mexico Bank & Trust officials at Logan did not return a phone message.
Logan attorney Warren Frost said in a phone interview Friday that residents were informed of the bank's forthcoming closing early last week.
Frost said the loss of the bank would affect not only Logan customers, but also clients in southern Harding and Union counties.
"It's going to put everybody in a bind," he said.
Vowing to not let the closing happen "without a fight," Frost said he's going to lobby local officials, politicians and residents to ask New Mexico Bank & Trust to reconsider.
He stated in an email that Logan and Quay County officials were scheduled to meet with Leyendecker this week. Frost also is the attorney for Quay County government.
"We're trying to convince the bank to keep it here or extend the closing to find someone else to buy the bank," Frost said.
A "Save Logan's Bank" page launched Saturday on Facebook, asking community members and customers to contact Leyendecker and ask he or the bank's holding company to reconsider the decision.
New Mexico Bank & Trust is a subsidiary of HTLF, formerly known as Heartland Financial USA Inc., based in Iowa that operates in 12 states.
Frost said governmental entities in Quay County have a total of almost $40 million deposited in New Mexico Bank & Trust.
"Clearly the Quay County community has supported NMB&T, and we believe now is the time for NMB&T and its parent company HTLF to repay that loyalty by keeping the Logan Branch open," he wrote.
Frost, noting banks are required to give 90 days' notice before a closure of a branch, stated residents and customers can submit a written request to the Federal Reserve "identifying the hardship the closing will cause and requesting that they convene a meeting to explore other possibilities. We are in the process of requesting such a meeting."
Logan's first bank was the McFarland Brothers Bank. It opened in 1904 in a sandstone building at the corner of Second and Martinez streets.
The bank closed in the late 1990s, and FNB opened a new building in the village on U.S. 54.
The original bank building still stands and is used as an insurance and real-estate office.
