LOCAL
Mattoon bank buys
Mansfield facility
MANSFIELD Peoples State Bank of Mansfield, which operates facilities in Mansfield, Mahomet and Weldon, has signed an agreement for purchase by Mattoon-based First Mid-Illinois Bancshares Inc.
The communities lie within First Mid-Illinois’ existing service area. The purchase is expected to close during the second quarter.
Peoples State Bank of Mansfield had operated for more than 140 years. The bank’s assets total $127 million with outstanding loans of $60 million. Deposits amount to $111 million with equity of $15 million.
First Mid-Illinois Bancshares is the parent of First Mid-Illinois Bank & Trust N.A. The bank has 25 locations in 17 communities. It has $850 million in assets.
Day-care center opens in El Paso
EL PASO Bloomington daycare provider Chris Boyd has opened A Better Choice (ABC) Daycare at 25 W. Clay, El Paso.
The day-care opened this month and offers full-time child care for 3- to 5-year-olds as well as a pre-kindergarten program.
Boyd, owner of Christine’s Daycare of Bloomington, said ABC has 19 openings. Barb Delaney will serve as director and Crystal Sieger is a co-teacher.
Boyd will close Christine’s Daycare in May.
NATION
Commerce declares quarterly dividend
ST. LOUIS, Mo. Board directors of Commerce Bankshares Inc., the holding company of Commerce Bank, declared a quarterly dividend of .245 cents per share on the company’s common stock. It will be payable March 28.
The announcement represented a 7.2 percent increase over the prior dividend of 0.24 cents per share when adjusted for a 5 percent stock dividend paid Dec. 13. The dividend marks the 37th consecutive year for the company to increase total dividends per share.
Commerce Bank has facilities in Bloomington, Normal and Lexington.
EarthLink to offer
bundled service
ATLANTA, Ga. EarthLink Inc. said Monday it will offer DirecTV satellite television service in a bundled option in select markets across the United States.
The Atlanta-based Internet service provider said the offer will begin by the end of the first quarter.
It did not say in which markets the option will be available nor offer any pricing details.
Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp., the dominant local telephone provider in nine southeastern states, also has a partnership with DirecTV Inc. to offer bundled services.
