Brandon Gentry

BRANDON GENTRY Hopes To Groom More ‘Emerging Leaders’

by Jeanni Brosius

Brandon Gentry has a passion for his community, and he says he loves that his job as a smalltown banker allows him to invest personally and professionally in his hometown of Wynne.

On October 22, at the Arkansas Bankers Association Emerging Leaders Leadership conference, Gentry was appointed as the 20202021 Emerging Leaders Section Council president.

“It has people who are like-minded and enjoy banking,” Gentry said about the Emerging Leaders. “I enjoy meeting other bankers and lenders in different markets. It also keeps me in contact with other leaders around the state.”

Gentry, who is the vice president of lending at Cross County Bank in Wynne, said his goals as new council president are to promote banking as a career option to college students and expand the membership numbers of the council.

“Our membership numbers are down,” Gentry said about the Emerging Leaders Council. “It was about 150 to 200 when I started. I want to come up with a plan to promote it. But with COVID, a lot of banks are still closed. … I would also like to start a grassroots program for kids who are still making career decisions.

“Bankers are different than they used to be. We all don’t fit in a box, and I want kids to see how cool it is and it’s not just about sitting behind a desk. I don’t want them to look past banking when planning a career.”

Because Cross County Bank still has its lobby closed to customers, Gentry said it makes it difficult to offer the personal customer service he believes in.

“It’s been a struggle not being able to meet face-to-face with our customers and doing everything over the phone,” Gentry said. “Making them sign applications in the parking lot isn’t very personal. I’ve been at least going to their front porch or meeting them at work at their car.”

Gentry said the doors of his bank will not open to the public for the near future, but he still wants the bank’s customers to feel appreciated.

Because Gentry is a 1997 graduate of Wynne High School, it was important to him to return to his hometown after he gained his education and garnered some banking experience.

After getting his bachelor of science degree in finance from Arkansas State University in 2004, he went to work at Twin City Bank (now Centennial Bank) in Little Rock for eight years. He said starting out as a teller there set him on the path of banking as a career. “I was ready to get back home to Wynne,” Gentry said. “My current boss [David Dowd, president/CEO of Cross County Bank] had a bunch of ideas for me. He got me into the grad program at LSU and asked me if I would like to get involved in Emerging Leaders, and it was kind of a fit.”

Gentry got his graduate degree from the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University in 2014.

“Brandon is a real asset to the bank,” Dowd said. “He is very versatile in his skillset and has a good future here at the bank.”

One way Gentry serves his com- PHOTO: Brandon Gentry munity is by coaching the bank-spon- (back left) coaches the sored little league baseball team. Even though he doesn’t have any kids on the team, he is a big baseball fan. He bank-sponsored little league baseball team. Photo courtesy of Gentry. started coaching the four- and fiveyear-old team that had some of the bank employees’ kids. He has gradually moved up in age groups where he currently coaches the seven- and eight-year-old team.

“Some of the first kids I started with, I can now go watch them play on the bigger fields,” Gentry said with a smile.

Gentry also serves on the board of Technology Center of the Delta and is a former Cross County Chamber board member. He is also past chairman of Arkansas Bankers Association Group 1 and is a graduate of Leadership Arkansas. His career goals are to be the best banker he can be.

“I plan to stay local and hope there is an opportunity within this community for me,” Gentry said. “Maybe move into a more senior management position and keep pushing this bank forward for the next 30 or so years.”