Bank Independent announced a $60 million-plus operations center on 50 acres off Reservation Road in Muscle Shoals.
The 95,000-square-foot building will allow the financial institution to move all of its operations staff to one location. Currently teams are spread out in five buildings in the Shoals. Ground for the complex will be broken early next year with completion set for the spring of 2025.
“Today’s announcement continues our 75-year commitment to making a positive difference every day for our team members, our customers and our communities,” said Macke Mauldin, president of Bank Independent. “It’s especially noteworthy that we are building on the ground of the original TVA where Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy came to recognize our community’s monumental contribution to electrifying the entire Tennessee Valley.”
The building’s four floors will have views of a forest and large meadow. Team members will park on the forest side, providing shade for the vehicles, and enter through a covered walkway into the two-story lobby. The building also will have and entrance on the meadow side and lots of natural light throughout.
The steel-and-concrete building will include LED lighting systems and HVAC systems that will employ chillers and an underfloor air distribution system. The corporate office space will use open office system furniture and demountable glass walls, providing for flexibility.
“It will include training rooms, a medical response area, a wellness room, a fitness center, and a conferencing center served by catering, team member café and private dining and kitchen,” said Rick Wardlaw, CEO of Bank Independent. “The new facility will also include a Bank Independent Museum that will honor the legacy of thousands of team members who have served the bank over the past 75 years with over 25 million hours of service.”
“While this facility demonstrates our commitment to our team and our community, it is also an investment. It’s an investment in the creative and collaborative future of work. We built a similar facility on a smaller scale for our subsidiary company, Interstate Billing Service, in Decatur back in 2016. That investment has more than paid off in the efficiencies we have gained from a quality work environment that facilitates collaboration and promotes the wellbeing of our team,” said Mauldin.
Calvin Durham with Lambert Ezell Durham Architects LLC, of Florence, is the lead architect in association with KPS Group Inc. Robins & Morton will serve as general contractor on the project.
Started in 1947, Bank Independent has 29 traditional sales offices across North America, an on-campus Deshler Tiger Branch and a digital sales office.
