Changes have happened for two banks with locations on Jefferson Highway. MidSouth Bank has shut down its branch at Jefferson and Bluebonnet Boulevard. This was the first Baton Rouge location for MidSouth, which moved into the Capital Region in summer 2005. Alex Calicchia, a spokesman for MidSouth, says over the years customers migrated to doing business at the two other local branches: on Corporate Boulevard and Siegen Lane. When the lease on the Jefferson and Bluebonnet property was up a month ago, the bank decided to shut down the branch. The handful of employees at the shuttered branch have been shifted to the other local MidSouth locations. Calicchia says MidSouth is looking at building more branches in Baton Rouge. “We’re expanding all over the place,” he says. “We’re looking all over Louisiana and Texas.”
Meanwhile, First Financial Bank and Trust, a Plaquemine bank with a branch next to Bocage Village Shopping Center, has changed its name. It’s now called Anthem Bank & Trust. Danny Strickland, president and CEO of Anthem, says the decision reflects the growth of the bank. Earlier this year, it acquired the assets of Texas Country Bank, which is based in suburban Austin, and an expansion into Florida is in the works. “The name Anthem was born from our renewed enthusiasm to serve new markets and from the pride we take in our 96-year community banking history,” Strickland says.
