After years of delays, Central Bank & Trust to open next month

Central Bank & Trust will open in downtown Colorado Springs next month, two years later than bank founders had hoped.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Mo., and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency all approved in the past month a complex transaction involving three banks that will allow Central to open in November.

“We are grateful for the approval and ability to move forward,” said Ron Johnson, Central Bancorp’s chairman and majority shareholder.

The approvals came weeks after four executives of Classic Cos., one of the largest home builders and developers in the Colorado Springs area, sold their interest in Central Bancorp, the bank’s parent company.

The Classic executives, Jeff Smith, George Lentz, Doug Stimple and Dan Winter, sold their shares “to focus on their core business,” Johnson said. “This was always an investment for them. We will miss their energy and insight, but understand their decision.”

The deal with the Classic executives ended more than a decade of efforts by Classic and its partners to get into the banking business. Smith and Lentz began their careers working for a bank that was acquired by what is now U.S. Bank.

Central Bancorp, formed in 2006 by the four Classic executives and Johnson’s Corundum Group investment advisory firm, sought a charter from state regulators in June 2006 to open the bank, but couldn’t get required approvals from federal regulators. Central Bancorp switched strategies earlier this year to get the bank open.

Now, Central Bancorp will buy Farmers & Stockmens Bank of Clayton, N.M., and an inactive bank charter owed by First Pioneer Bank of Wray, enabling Central to comply with state law requiring out-of-state banks to obtain a Colorado bank charter to open a branch in the state.

Central Bank will open in the ground floor of Bancorp Plaza, 1 S. Nevada Ave., which houses Central Bancorp and subsidiaries in insurance brokerage, title insurance, mortgage, wealth management and trust.

Central Bancorp will continue to operate Farmers & Stockmens Bank, which is not related to Stockmen’s Bank in Colorado Springs, without changes in name, management or products. The Colorado Springs branch will operate as Central Bank & Trust.

Check gazette.com later today for coverage of deposits in Colorado Springs area financial institutions.