Fortress Bank announced it has opened a loan production office in West Des Moines. The new office at 5000 Westown Parkway, Suite 420, will offer commercial, agricultural, consumer and mortgage lending. Scott Jarvis, senior vice president, leads the bank’s Central Iowa expansion as the Des Moines division manager with a staff of seven bankers. “Our motivation will be to establish ourselves as a strategic financial partner through building trust, creating innovative solutions, and providing considerable expertise across multiple industry segments,” Jarvis said in a press release. The bank anticipates opening a full-service West Des Moines branch within two years, he said. Founded in 1904 in the west-central Illinois town of Burnside, Fortress Bank operates 11 offices in Iowa and Illinois, with more than $500 million in total assets. The bank’s holding company, First State Bancorporation, is owned by Lee Gerlach, an Illinois entrepreneur. The West Des Moines office can be reached at 515-706-4210.