Community investment is at the heart of the Bank of Zachary.
The oldest chartered bank headquartered in East Baton Rouge Parish, the Bank of Zachary opened the doors of its first location on Main Street in 1904 and has done business as the “Bank of Zachary Way” ever since.
“Our primary mission is to improve our community by meeting its financial needs and by being a responsible productive member of that community,” President and CEO Mark Marionneaux says. “Recognizing that the extent of our ability to enhance our community is dependent on our profitability, the bank has continued to reinvest in the communities we serve for years.”
While COVID-19 presented the banking world with many challenges, it also provided community banks like the Bank of Zachary with remarkable opportunities through the federal PPP program. Community banks were able to show how reliable they were to their communities during a period of uncertainty and instability.
AT A GLANCE
Top executives: Mark Marionneaux, President & CEO; Russell Blanchard, Chief Financial Officer; Brent Bradley, Chief Administrative Officer; Loretta Barber, Senior VP Deposit Operations; Sam James, Senior VP Enterprise Risk Management & Deposit Operations; Joshua Prejean, Senior VP Loan Production
Phone: 225.654.2701
Address: 4743 Main St., Zachary, LA 70791
Website: bankofzachary.com
The bank opened a new Watson branch in 2020—its first since the 1970s. The momentum led to the opening of an in-school bank branch at Central Private School in 2022 and two new full-service branches in St. Francisville and Central in 2023. The Bank of Zachary also plans to open an in-school branch at Zachary High School this fall. “We’re always looking for the right opportunity to share our passion for community banking … banking the way that we do business,” Marionneaux says. “If there’s an opportunity for us to expand into a neighboring community, we absolutely want to evaluate that. We’re not turning our back on any good opportunities.”
What defines the “Bank of Zachary Way”? The bank’s four constituent groups—its customers, employees, shareholders, and community—are held in equal relation to one another, forming the basis of its corporate culture.
Our primary differentiator is the quality of our staff. They deliver our products and services to our customers in the most efficient way, but also in a very high touch, caring, loving way,” Marionneaux says.
“The Bank of Zachary invests in its employees with training and development opportunities led by a full-time training officer—something of a rarity for community banks,” Marionneaux says. “The intentional effort to train employees results in a culture of continuous improvement and re-investment in not only our customers but also the communities the bank serves.”
“It’s our job to be good stewards of those employees and allow them to develop and grow,” he says. “If we’re fortunate and continue to do a great job, they’ll keep growing inside the Bank of Zachary. Since we’ve rapidly grown, there are lots of new opportunities being developed as we move forward.”
The “Bank of Zachary Way” also includes remembering the institution’s roots as a community bank dedicated to helping small businesses succeed. A key 2024 initiative includes evaluating the bank’s existing small business products to ensure that Main Street is set up for success.
“The locally owned small businesses are the fabric that holds strong communities together, and we’re proud to play a part in the health of our local business community,” Marionneaux says. “We are making sure we’re providing solutions that allow those employers to be as successful as they can be.”
The Bank of Zachary plans to continue the development of its digital products and services for customers and small businesses in 2024. The institution migrated its core to a new digital service platform in recent years and plans to continue exploring new competitive options for its customers.
But no matter how much growth the Bank of Zachary experiences, its number one asset will always be its people and their investment in the communities they serve.
“The quality of the people who work here makes a difference. The way they do business and the way they treat our customers is second to none,” Marionneaux says. “It’s refreshing that as things seem to become more and more callous and impersonal in the financial services industry, we’re able to maintain a very loving culture and a more personal service experience in the way we do business that transcends all issues that arise.
