First Bancshares Inc.

Overview

First Bancshares Inc. was established in 1993 as the bank holding company for First Home Bank, a Missouri-chartered savings bank headquartered in Mountain Grove, Missouri. Founder Mack L. Hering serves as President, CEO, and Chairman, with his son, Michael W. Hering, acting as CFO. The wealth generation came from the bank's long-duration mortgage portfolio and community deposit franchise built over three decades, not from an external liquidity event. First Home Bank originates one-to-four family residential mortgages, multifamily loans, and commercial real estate credits across Missouri and into select Southeastern markets. The bank's asset mix leans heavily on whole loans held in portfolio, augmented by investment securities and small business lending. Rather than selling into agency MBS pools, First Home consistently retains originated mortgages, earning net interest margin over the loan's life. Geographic concentration remains in the Ozarks region of southern Missouri, though recent expansion includes offices in Florida and Georgia. Confirmed lending segments include SBA 7(a) small-business loans and conventional multifamily acquisition finance. The company operates from Mountain Grove with additional loan production offices in Springfield, Missouri, and several Florida markets. Total assets stood at approximately $350 million as of mid-2024, placing it among the smaller publicly reporting thrift holding companies. Regulatory filings at the Office of Thrift Supervision show a consistent common equity tier 1 ratio above 12%. In January 2025, the firm announced the retirement of two long-serving board members, reducing the board from seven to five directors as part of a governance consolidation effort. No private equity backing, venture affiliates, or separate wealth management arms are associated with the firm. First Bancshares operates under the mutual holding company structure, with MHC members retaining majority voting control—a governance model that insulates management from activist pressure and quarterly earnings demands common among publicly traded peers. This allows the bank to hold 30-year fixed-rate mortgages without hedging and to operate with a cost of funds anchored by sticky rural deposit relationships rather than wholesale market pricing.