When Progressive Bank was founded in October 1975 in Winnsboro, Louisiana, the company was primarily dedicated to serving the special banking needs of the agricultural community in the Franklin Parish area. Under the guidance of the bank’s founder, former president, and current President Emeritus, Mr. George Cummings, Jr., Progressive Bank had grown to assets of over $42 million by the end of 1996.

While this dedication to the area's farming industry still exists, Progressive Bank has adopted a plan to become a financial services leader in the markets we serve. In 1997, Progressive Bank expanded into the Ouachita Parish market with its first location at 1401 North 19th Street in Monroe. Another Monroe banking location at 1101 Hudson Lane opened in August 1998. Also in August 1998, Progressive Bank purchased prime real estate at Cypress Street and Bell Lane for the bank’s first West Monroe banking location which opened in January 1999. In December 1998, Progressive Bank entered into an agreement with Albertson’s, Inc. to locate a full-service branch banking office inside their store on Hwy 165 North in Monroe. This office opened in February 1999.

Expansion continued in 2002, with two new Progressive offices - the Lamy Lane Financial Center located at the corner of Lamy Lane and Armand in Monroe opened in February. The bank’s second West Monroe location, the Trenton Financial Center located at 701 Trenton Street opened in June. This financial center was the first of the bank’s "traditional" banking centers to have regular Saturday lobby banking.

Finally, in 2004, the company’s dream of a new Monroe "home office" came true with the completion of our Corporate Office and 19th Street Financial Center at 1411 North 19th Street. This building houses the bank’s retail banking services, investment management & trust, private banking, commercial banking, residential lending, and commercial cash management, as well as the bank’s corporate division. In December 2004, the bank relocated its Albertsons Financial Center into a new, more convenient location at Highway 165 North and Forsythe Extension. Through this new Highway 165 North office, Progressive Bank is able to offer several services that were not available at the Albertsons office, including drive-thru banking and safe deposit boxes. This growth and expansion has resulted in an increase in the number of employees in northeast Louisiana from 22 in 1997 to over 120 in 2006, 80 of which are in Ouachita Parish.

As a result of these expansion efforts, Progressive Bank’s assets grew from $46.1 million in September 1997 to $337.1 million at December 31, 2007. During that same period, deposits grew from $40.1 million to $258 million; and loans increased from $28 million to $267.4 million. In addition, during that time the Investment Management and Trust Services Division has grown to over $250 million in assets under management.

This growth and success has enabled us to take the next step in our geographic expansion plans as out first Progressive Bank office in Bossier City, Louisiana is set to open in Summer 2008.