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Sources: Bear State makes local layoffs

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Little Rock, Ark.-based Bear State Financial Inc. (Nasdaq: BSF) recently laid off employees in the Queen City area, according to three sources who spoke off the record with Springfield Business Journal.

One source with knowledge of the matter identified roughly a dozen local executives who were let go last week.

SBJ research via LinkedIn examining the names listed in an email found six stopped working for Bear State this month. They are Jeff McNatt, a former executive with Bear State; Jeff Shields, who worked as senior vice president of commercial lending; Jamie Esch, former marketing president and commercial lender; Missy Bender, former executive assistant; Darline Mabins, former assistant vice president and branch coordinator; and Ron Rushing, former executive vice president.

Three others either still worked for Bear State or hadn’t updated their LinkedIn pages and another three did not have LinkedIn pages. One of the employees said via Facebook Messenger he received severance from Bear State related to the layoffs, but declined to be identified. Another employee reached by phone declined to comment, and SBJ’s attempts to contact several others were unsuccessful.

Local Bear State executives Craig Dunn and Rick Windes did not return repeated phone calls for comment. Bear State CEO Matt Machen and Chief Marketing Officer Shelly Loftin also did not respond to calls and emails.

Bear State entered the Missouri market in 2015 when it acquired Springfield-based Metropolitan National Bank for $70 million in cash and stock. When the deal was completed, officials identified the need for layoffs to eliminate redundancies, according to SBJ archives.

Earlier this month, Mark McFatridge — who had led Metropolitan National prior to the acquisition — cited personal reasons for resigning from his role as CEO of Bear State.

Bear State reported 2016 earnings of $17.5 million, a 65 percent increase compared with the prior year, according to a news release. The company operates three branches in Springfield.

BSF shares were trading at $10.12 as of 10:16 a.m., compared with a 52-week range of $7.90 to $10.95.

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