From Taunton to Marshall
State Bank of Taunton to open first branch location this spring
MARSHALL — All winter long, the tarp at the corner of West College Drive and Saratoga Street sparked questions, Doug DeSmet said. “We were hearing everyone talk around town about what was under there,” DeSmet said.
This week the mystery was unveiled as the tarp was removed and a new sign for the State Bank of Taunton was installed. The bank is expanding, with a new branch in Marshall planned to open this spring.
Renovations to the former Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce office building on College Drive are nearing completion, said State Bank of Taunton President Duane Peterson and Vice President DeSmet.
“We’re really grateful for the opportunity to do this,” Peterson said. He said the response from the Marshall community has been positive as well. “We’ve already had different businesses and organizations reach out to us,” DeSmet said. “We’re really excited to have this organization be part of the community.”
The State Bank of Taunton is an established name in banking in the area. The bank was founded in 1905, and survived both the Great Depression and recessions.
“It was pretty much started by the townspeople,” Peterson said. “We’ve been a locally-owned and managed bank ever since.” Recently, Peterson said the bank had also been looking for options to expand in Marshall.
“We got an opportunity at this space,” DeSmet said.
The Marshall Area Chamber had moved to a new office location on Main Street in October, which left their old location on West College Drive available. “It seemed like a really good fit,” he said. "It’s a perfect location for us. It has good visibility and traffic flow,” Peterson said. “It’s really nice to be close to downtown, too,” DeSmet said.
The preparations for the bank expansion have been going on since last summer, DeSmet said. Features like new security and a new drive-up window were installed, and a site was prepared for a new outdoor sign before the ground froze this winter. “We’ve been dealing with supply chain issues,” in renovating the bank, DeSmet said.
Some of the equipment for the new branch, like a new phone system, has taken a long time to arrive, Peterson said.
But while there’s still some finishing work to be done, State Bank of Taunton hopes to open the Marshall branch in mid-April. A Business After Hours event is planned for June.
The State Bank of Taunton offers a full range of services, from personal, agricultural and business banking to home and real estate lending, Peterson said. He and DeSmet said the bank takes a relationship-based approach to welcoming and working with customers.
“I think we’re known as a community bank,” Peterson said.
In a time where more banking is being done electronically, it’s still important to be able to talk to real people, DeSmet said.
DeSmet said Taunton will remain the bank’s headquarters, with the new Marshall location as a branch. To go along with the new location, State Bank of Taunton has hired some new employees, who are being trained in Taunton.
