Lauren Blackburn is the new branch manager for the U.S. Bank located at 2501 S. Veterans Parkway in Springfield. She replaces Marianne Jackson, who retired as of July 1 after seven years in that role.

“I’ve been with the bank for 19 years,” said Blackburn. “I spent 12 years at the Fifth and Adams branch before moving to Bloomington to be a branch manager there.” After spending the last seven years managing a U.S. Bank location in Bloomington, Blackburn has now returned to Springfield, where she was born and raised.

Blackburn graduated from University of Illinois Springfield and said she was already working in the banking industry while in college. “I was a teller at Prairie State Bank for a year when I was 19 and then became a personal banker with U.S. Bank, which was still called Firstar at the time. That’s how I decided what degree to work toward, because I enjoyed banking so much. I had a long-term plan,” she explained.

When she lived in Springfield previously, Blackburn said she was involved in the local chapters of United Way and the American Cancer Society, and more recently, served on the board of directors for Best Buddies in Bloomington, an organization that works with the disabled. “I’m looking forward to getting back involved in some community groups again,” she said.