Member News
World Services for the Blind Honors Arvest’s Jim Cargill with Award
ABA Honors Husband-Wife Banker Team with Bruning Award
(Picture, left to right) Kevin Sabin, president/ CEO of Arvest Bank; Jim Cargill, president/CEO of Arvest Bank in central, northeast and southwest Arkansas, and Sharon Giovinazzo, president/ CEO, World Services for the Blind.
The American Bankers Association announced the recipients of both the Bruning and Blanchfield Awards, the association’s premier awards presented for contributions to ag banking. For the first time, this year’s Bruning Award will be presented to a husband-wife team, Gary and Hanna Canada (shown above, in center with their family), two agricultural bankers known for running Bank of England in England, AR, hand-in-hand. Gary Canada, the bank’s chairman and president, is a longtime ag banker who has served on numerous committees and boards throughout his career, including ABA’s Agricultural and Rural Bankers Committee, the Bayou Meto Irrigation District and the Arkansas Rice Council. In addition to running the bank, he has run a cow-calf operation and farmed cotton, rice and wheat. His wife, Hanna serves as EVP at Bank of England. She began her banking career as a teller and today serves on the board of directors. Winning this year’s Blanchfield Award which was presented to a non-banker for contributions to ag and rural banking is James Radintz, who recently retired as a senior executive at the USDA’s Farm Service Agency. During his 38-year career at USDA, Radintz held several leadership positions, including deputy administrator for farm loan programs and director of the loan making division. Both awards were presented at the ABA National Agricultural Bankers Conference last November in Dallas. Photo of Canada family courtesy of James Wolfe.
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The Arkansas Banker n Winter 2019
World Services for the Blind, a Little Rock-based nonprofit organization that works to empower those who are blind or visually impaired, recognized Jim Cargill, president and CEO of Arvest Bank in central, northeast and southwest Arkansas, with the 2019 Vision Award in late October. The Vision Award is presented to an individual who has “demonstrated far-reaching vision to successfully orchestrate events through business enterprise and community involvement to help better society for all citizens, both with and without sight.” Arvest Bank President and CEO Kevin Sabin presented Cargill with the 19th Annual Vision Award. “The task World Services faces is monumental, yet they continue to succeed, innovate and expand their programs - changing lives in the process,” said Cargill. “It is my hope that this recognition gives our business community pause, so we can all better determine how our companies can contribute to supporting individuals of all abilities, and also build a more diverse workforce.” More than 25 million Americans, age 18 or older, are visually impaired to the point that they must make drastic changes to their daily lives. World Services for the Blind is the only comprehensive vocational rehabilitation organization in the World that provides job placement for those who are visually impaired. It serves clients as young as Pre-K students, to senior adults, in 50 states and 58 countries. Cargill is a fourth-generation banker who has worked for Arvest Bank for 34 years. He currently serves as vice chairman of the Arkansas Bankers Association; executive committee member of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce board of directors; board member, 50 for the Future; and board member, Big Dam Bridge Foundation.
