THE BANK THAT STARTED WITH NO DEPOSITS IS BUILDING ITS FOURTH TIPPECANOE COUNTY BRANCH

1st Source Bank, the South Bend-based community lender that arrived in Tippecanoe County without a single loan on its books, is doubling down on its bet that the corridor stretching west from Purdue University has more room to run.

The bank broke ground last week on a new branch located at 1215 Potter Drive in West Lafayette. This is the bank’s fourth location in the county and its first west of the Wabash River.

It’s a move that would have been hard to predict when 1st Source set up shop inside Purdue Research Park in 2007 with no customers and no deposits. Nearly two decades later, it ranks ninth in deposit market share among 17 banks in Tippecanoe County, according to the FDIC’s Summary of Deposits, which does not include credit unions.

“I hope this building is a symbol of our commitment to the community. It’s a big investment. We know this community can support it,” said Brent Mithoefer, 1st Source’s Lafayette regional president.

The timing isn’t coincidental. West Lafayette is absorbing SK hynix’s $3.87 billion semiconductor facility at Purdue Research Park — the same corridor where 1st Source first planted its flag — backed by $458 million in federal CHIPS Act funding and expected to bring more than a thousand jobs by 2028.

Across the river, Caterpillar has committed $725 million to expand its Lafayette manufacturing plant. And Purdue’s campus alone generated $3.19 billion in direct economic activity in 2024, supporting an estimated 20,000 jobs in Tippecanoe County, according to a Purdue Center for Regional Development analysis. Against that backdrop, a new branch on Potter Drive reads less like a ribbon-cutting and more like a bet being placed in public.

“A bank doesn’t build a fourth location somewhere it doesn’t believe in,” said Mikel Berger, president and CEO of Greater Lafayette Commerce, which hosted the ceremony. “This is proof of the growth happening on this side of the river.”

1st Source Corporation posted first-quarter 2026 net income of $39.96 million, up 6.49% from the same quarter a year ago and down slightly — $1.19 million, or 2.88% — from the prior quarter, a routine seasonal fluctuation rather than a trend. Translated for the non-investor: the bank earned $1.63 for every share of stock outstanding, compared with $1.52 a year earlier, meaning it is generating more profit per dollar of capital than it was 12 months ago.

For everyday customers, that signals a financially stable institution with the footing to lend, expand and stay put through an economic cycle. The company holds $9.1 billion in total assets and operates as the largest locally controlled financial institution in the northern Indiana-southwestern Michigan region.

Average deposits for the quarter came in at $7.19 billion, down $141.97 million from the same period a year ago and $229.44 million from the previous quarter. The bank attributed the decline to lower brokered deposits, seasonal outflows from interest-bearing public fund accounts and a decrease in noninterest-bearing demand deposits.

Put simply, some of the money the bank holds on behalf of government entities and institutional customers moved out on a predictable seasonal schedule, and short-term wholesale deposits the bank had brought in to supplement its funding were allowed to roll off. Neither signals weakness in the bank’s core customer base.

Andrea Short, CEO of 1st Source Bank, said the Potter Drive site was worth the wait. The bank had been searching for the right West Lafayette property for some time before the deal came together, a detail that underscores how deliberately the institution has approached its expansion on the west side of the river.

“We looked a long time to find the right piece of property,” Short said. “We are excited to grow with West Lafayette.”

West Lafayette Mayor Erin Easter brought a particular vantage point to the groundbreaking. Before serving the City of West Lafayette as deputy director of development in 2018 before being elected mayor in 2024, Easter spent nine years at Greater Lafayette Commerce — rising to vice president of chamber and quality of life — where she first met with 1st Source as it was building its presence in the county.

“Whether that’s helping out with community events downtown or helping churches secure funding for their projects, they have been true, honest and steadfast partners,” Easter said.

1st Source Corporation trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker “SRCE” and operates 78 bank branches, 15 specialty finance locations, nine trust and wealth advisory offices, 13 insurance offices and three loan production offices across its home region. The Potter Drive branch will expand that footprint into a market that, by almost any measure, is no longer just a university town.