Hawthorn Bank

“We continuously hear from customers that this bank is like the show ‘Cheers’ in that everybody knows their name,” says Clint Caffey, president of Hawthorn Bank’s southwest region. “This bank is very much like a family. People still want that personal connection when it comes to their money and that’s what we provide.”

Senior vice president Tom Lay adds that while Hawthorn is headquartered out of Jefferson City, the majority of banking decisions are made locally within each of the bank’s four regions. Springfield and the surrounding areas comprise the southwest region.

“A lot of banks have to go through offices in other states to get decisions made and it can take months. That’s not the way it works here. You can walk in and out with a decision in a couple of days and that’s pretty unheard of in the commercial banking environment.”

That high touch, expedited service was helpful when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Thousands of small businesses applied for SBA Payroll Protection Program loans. “It took bigger banks some time to get rolling with that,” says Caffey. “We got after it. A lot of our bankers came in on the weekends and we worked hard to close these loans for our local businesses.”
“We focused on the needs of our business owners and made them even more of a priority in an incredibly stressful time,” says Lay.

“The beauty of Hawthorn Bank’s management style is that the decision making is pushed to each region,” says Caffey. Hawthorn has 22 branches in four regions, all located in Missouri. “They let us make our own decisions. That allows us to do what’s best for our individual communities. We all work within our own communities and do whatever we can to help our clients be successful.”

Hawthorn Bank recently added a team of mortgage lenders to grow residential and commercial mortgage services throughout the state of Missouri. To accommodate the new team, the top floor of the Springfield office has been completely remodeled. Hawthorn’s Springfield office is located at Battlefield and Campbell in the building prominently featuring an iconic tile mural. While the mural isn’t part of the Hawthorn brand, it was a conscious decision to keep this historically significant feature.

Caffey says while Hawthorn has always done a lot of commercial business, adding the mortgage team has helped bring in additional opportunities that don’t show signs of slowing down. “We’ve done thousands of commercial and residential projects for some of the largest borrowers in Southwest Missouri,” says Caffey. “As we look forward to the future of Springfield and the surrounding community, we will continue to provide that personal connection and our superior service that our clients have come to expect.”