Dickinson Financial's new HQ in KC will help raise its local profile.

Dickinson Financial Corp. didn’t move far to set up a new headquarters in downtown Kansas City, but it accomplished the company’s goal of creating a more attractive and collaborative space for its employees.

Dickinson Financial, the parent company for Academy Bank and Armed Forces Bank, spent the last 15 years at 1111 Main St., navigating its way through a financial crisis, rebuilding the company’s strength, and now pushing the envelope on banking technology. But its headquarters space had flaws, with people spread throughout the building. CEO Paul Holewinski wanted an office that would encourage more collaboration, so the company decided to move to 1201 Walnut St., catty-corner from its former office. The new headquarters is on floors 10-12 of the building, with stairwells connecting the floors, giving the company 60,000 square feet of contiguous space.

A renovation took about 20 months to complete, and the company moved in at the end of 2023.

“We were at the end of our lease, and we wanted a space that would better connect everyone and be an office that made our associates want to come in,” Holewinski said. “We thought if we could open it up and put in more glass, it would be a better place to work.” The difference is striking. The former headquarters used wood paneling and had walled-in offices that kept out the sunlight. The new space has offices with glass walls, allowing natural light to illuminate bright-colored interior walls.

The office is filled with typical departments found a bank headquarters, including credit, HR, legal, finance, underwriting, executives, compliance, internal audit and more. To bring some fun to the office, the company added a game room. “(I'm) involved in our lending group a lot, and it's great having them literally right down the hall now,” Holewinski said. “We're getting more random spontaneity now, where people share conversations when they run into each other.”

The 1201 Walnut headquarters also includes a branch on the ground floor that will pilot a new design. It’s a small space with universal bankers, conference room technology that allows clients to have virtual meetings, and a video teller machine to do simple transactions. That comes in handy, given the different nature of the two banks under the Dickinson Financial umbrella. Armed Forces Bank serves members of the military and their families, with many of its branches on military bases. It uses technology to help clients bank wherever and whenever they want. Academy Bank is a more traditional commercial bank. Sometimes, it makes sense for the banks to share technology and services.

Another perk: Academy Bank now has more visible signage along 12th street and throughout Downtown.

“That is really going to help with our branding efforts,” Holewinski said.