June, 28, 2010

Despite a rocky past few years, new residents and businesses to the Pine Belt will find its banking industry solid.Executives at area banks say the economy seems to be getting better and they feel optimistic about the rest of 2010 and 2011, although there's still a long way to go in the recovery."There is more optimism in the air," said Holt McMullan, president of Trustmark Hattiesburg which has about 20 branches throughout the Hattiesburg-Petal-Oak Grove area.

"People are expanding inventories. The stock market had a good week. The economy is trying to mend," McMullan said. "We've felt the recession in Hattiesburg, but we've weathered it better than other cities in Mississippi. We're cautiously optimistic."Jim Smith, senior vice president of Grand Bank for Savings, agrees.Grand Bank has three locations in the area."I'm not saying we're recession-free, but we didn't feel it as bad as other parts of the country," he said. "We've got two universities here.