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Member News
Home BancShares, Inc., parent company of Centennial Bank, announces the appointment of former governor Mike Beebe to its Board of Directors to fill a vacancy on the Board. “We continue to attract highly valued talent to our organization, including the addition of Mike Beebe to our Board of Directors,” said John Allison, Chairman. “Our Board aims to maintain both relevant skill sets and experience among its members, and we’re confident Mr. Beebe’s broad leadership experience, ability to collaborate and his long-time development and knowledge of business make him an excellent addition to what is already a strong and diverse Board.” “Being from Arkansas, Home BancShares is one of the companies I’ve followed since its inception,” Beebe stated. “I’ve been impressed with the tremendous growth this company has achieved throughout the years under the leadership of not only John Allison, but also the entire Home BancShares Board of Directors. It’s an honor to be selected to serve the Company’s shareholders alongside these Board members and become a part of the Company’s growth story.” Beebe currently serves as a director of Tyson Foods, Inc. and a member of the Governors’ Council of the Bipartisan Policy Center (“BPC”) in Washington, D.C. He is also Of Counsel for the Roberts Law Firm, P.A. in Little Rock, Arkansas. Beebe was the Governor of the State of Arkansas from 2007 to 2015 and the state’s Attorney General from 2003 to 2007, prior to which he served as a state senator for 20 years. Beebe began his law career in 1972, practicing law at Lightle, Beebe, Raney, Bell and Simpson in Searcy, Arkansas. From 1974 to 1979, he was a member of the Board of Trustees at Arkansas State University. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Arkansas State University in 1968, Beebe completed law school at the University of Arkansas while serving in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1968 to 1974. Home BancShares, Inc. Announces Appointment of Former Governor Beebe to Board of Directors
Anstaff Bank, N.A., headquartered in Green Forest, Arkansas, announced today its intent to convert from a national bank charter to a state-chartered bank, according to Steve Stafford, CEO. “The charter conversion is a strategic undertaking that we believe will enhance our operations long term,” said Stafford. “The OCC has been a good regulator for Anstaff for 85 years and I appreciate their help and guidance. But we feel the State Bank Department better understands our concerns and customers. We look forward to working with them and hope to have the transition complete by the end of June.” Anstaff Bank, N.A., is a full-service community bank with nine locations serving Green Forest, Huntsville, Jasper, Harrison, Kingston and Berryville. In 2015, Anstaff acquired Twin Lakes Community Bank, which has three locations in Flippin, Mountain Home and Norfork. First National Bancorp, Inc., parent company of Anstaff Bank, N.A., has combined total assets of approximately $540 million. Anstaff Moving to State Charter
Citizens Bank Commits to Revitalization of Downtown Batesville Citizens Bank has announced a comprehensive plan to revitalize Historic Downtown Batesville. Phil Baldwin, Citizens Bank President and CEO indicated that, “Citizens Bank will support the Impact Independence Strategic Plan with the formation of a $10 million redevelopment fund comprised of low interest rate loans and grants.” Mr. Baldwin indicated that this is a promise from Citizens Bank to the Independence County community. “Historic Downtown Batesville will be redeveloped.” The announcement was part of an open house and progress report hosted by the Historic Melba Theater. The community was treated to a tour of the historic theater and heard a progress report on reconstruction activity. Additional important community announcements were provided by Main Street Batesville, with specific focus on the redevelopment of Maxfield Park and the Barnett Building Business Incubator Project. The Greater Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce provided an exciting update on the Impact Independence Strategic Plan Initiative. Impact Independence is the 10-year strategic plan for Independence County initiated in 2015 by Lyon College, the University of Arkansas Community College of Batesville and the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce. The Citizens Bank Redevelopment Fund will specifically support the Impact Independence Strategic Plan and is comprised of: A $10 million low-interest rate loan fund to stimulate downtown economies and promote historic downtown redevelopment; and A $100,000 fund to provide cash grants to property owners, business owners and tenants with smaller business needs (painting, restoring exterior finishes and materials, signs, exterior lighting, awnings, sidewalk renovation, landscaping, etc). Mr. Baldwin concluded his comments with this statement, “I am excited that Historic Downtown Batesville will now have the ability to combine the vibrancy of a college community and the ambiance of a small southern town. My hope is for Historic Downtown Batesville to come alive again and provide family friendly entertainment with diverse and eclectic shopping, dining, arts, cinema, music and pubs; to become residential again, with loft apartments above and shops below; to be a place for all generations to gather, walk, bike or talk – a people gathering place for all of Independence County.”
Eagle Bank and Trust employees used the AmBA “Teach Children to Save” curriculum to provide six weeks of financial education lessons to Lawson Elementary School in Little Rock. Pictured here is the second grade class, showing their certificates of completion and piggy banks provided by the bank to help them start saving.
Using the AmBA curriculum “Teach Children to Save,” Eagle Bank and Trust taught third graders at Concord Elementary in Concord the importance of saving. More than 50 Arkansas banks and branches partnered with local schools to celebrate Teach Children To Save Day with savings education in April. As part of the program, Arkansas youths explored a number of financial subjects including the difference between needs and wants, how to identify expenses, and ways to cut spending. Established by the American Bankers Association in 1997, Teach Children to Save has reached 7.2 million young people through the commitment of 210,000 banker volunteers. The American Bankers Association provides financial education initiatives and resources that help bankers make their communities better. The association’s signature initiatives, Teach Children to Save and Get Smart About Credit, bring bankers and students together to increase financial education. Arkansas Banks ‘Teach Children to Save’
Thank You to these Arkansas Banks for Teaching Children to Save!
Alma BancorpSouth Bank Ashdown BancorpSouth Bauxite Malvern National Bank Brinkley BancorpSouth Bank Cabot Centennial Bank Carlisle BancorpSouth Bank Cherry Valley First National Bank of Wynne Conway Arvest Bank Crossett First National Bank of Crossett De Queen BancorpSouth Bank Des Arc Farmers & Merchants Bank DeWitt Farmers & Merchants Bank El Dorado BancorpSouth Bank First Financial Bank England Bank of England Farmington Great Southern Bank Forrest City First National Bank of Wynne Fort Smith Arvest Bank BancorpSouth Bank Genoa BancorpSouth Greenwood BancorpSouth Bank Harrisburg First National Bank of Wynne Harrison Bear State Financial, Inc Hazen BancorpSouth Bank Farmers & Merchants Bank Hope BancorpSouth Bank Horseshoe Bend BancorpSouth Bank Hot Springs BancorpSouth Bank Jonesboro BancorpSouth Bank Simmons Bank Lewisville BancorpSouth Bank Little Rock Arvest Bank Bank of the Ozarks Eagle Bank and Trust Company Heartland Bank IberiaBank One Bank & Trust NA Magnolia Farmers Bank & Trust Company Mammoth Spring Bank of Salem Melbourne BancorpSouth Bank Morrilton Farmers & Merchants Bank Mountain Home Integrity First Bank, NA Osceola BancorpSouth Bank Paragould BancorpSouth Bank Perryville Farmers & Merchants Bank Pocahontas BancorpSouth Bank Integrity First Bank, NA Salem Bank of Salem Springdale Arvest Bank Stuttgart BancorpSouth Farmers & Merchants Bank Texarkana BancorpSouth Viola Bank of Salem Wilson BancorpSouth Bank Wynne First National Bank of Wynne
SIGNATURE BANK OF ARKANSAS HIRES ROB GINN AS VP – LENDING OFFICER
Signature Bank of Arkansas has announced Rob Ginn has joined the bank as a Vice President – Lending Officer. Rob brings 23 years of banking experience with a focus on commercial lending. “We are extremely excited to have Rob join our Bentonville team. He brings years of experience and knowledge and will be a key asset in our continued growth in not only our Bentonville market but all of Northwest Arkansas.” –Gary Head, President & CEO of Signature Bank of Arkansas. Rob earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas. He is a board member of the Benton County Quail. He and wife, Eva, have two children and are residents of Bentonville. Ginn is located in the Signature Bank Bentonville office off of Walton Blvd.
NUNNELEE PROMOTED AT SIGNATURE BANK OF ARKANSAS
Gary Head, President & CEO of Signature Bank of Arkansas, has announced the following promotion: Amber Nunnelee has been promoted to Commercial Lender. Nunnelee, who was previously a Loan Coordinator, is a graduate of both the Arkansas Bankers Association’s Consumer (2013) & Commercial (2015) Lending Schools. She enjoys spending time with her two kids and volunteering throughout the NWA community.
WILLIAMS JOINS STONE BANK IN WHITE HALL
Marnie Oldner, Chief Executive Officer of Stone Bank, has announced that White Hall native Kelly Williams, has joined the bank as Vice President and White Hall Market Manager. “We’re delighted to welcome Kelly to our team, said Oldner. “Kelly is a very strong and experienced banker who is known and respected in the community. With this addition, we now have an extraordinarily qualified team of veteran bankers ready to build up our Jefferson County presence as we construct a state-of-the-art community banking center.” Williams will serve as the senior loan officer for the White Hall market. A graduate of White Hall, Arkansas public schools who studied business management at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Williams most recently worked with Simmons Bank as Community Sales Manager of the western region of Arkansas with responsibility for 10 full-service banking locations. In addition to training sales associates and teaching the bank’s quality customer service programs, Kelly was responsible for setting and tracking sales goals for the employees in his region. Very active in the community, Kelly and his wife Ashleigh have two children in White Hall public schools and an older daughter enrolled at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. Stone Bank is headquartered in Mountain View, Arkanas. In addition to the headquarters, the bank has a loan production office in Little Rock and will be breaking ground on new, full service facilities in White Hall and Harrison, Arkansas in 2016.
WILLIAMSON NAMED PRESIDENT FOR ARVEST BANK, SPRINGDALE
Arvest Bank has announced that Kent Williamson was named president and chief executive officer of Arvest Bank in Springdale starting on May 1, 2016. His promotion follows Lisa Ray’s move to regional executive for Arvest Bank Group. Williamson has served as the loan manager for Arvest Bank in Springdale since 1999. He joined Arvest as a commercial banker in 1992 after working as a bank examiner for the Arkansas Bank Department since 1989. “Kent’s proven leadership skills, strong community service, broad knowledge and experience in banking, and his commitment to offering exceptional customer service have served Arvest and the community well during his 24 years at Arvest in Springdale” said Lisa Ray, regional executive for Arvest. “Kent is well-respected by coworkers and customers, and his track record of overseeing the Springdale bank’s loan staff while maintaining asset quality made him the natural choice for the president position.” Ray’s promotion from Arvest Springdale’s president to regional executive was prompted by the April 30 retirement of 30-year Arvest executive, Cliff Gibbs. “The Springdale Arvest family has great leadership at every level and truly cares about our customers. I am grateful for the opportunity to help lead our bank as we continue to help our customers find their financial solutions for life,” Williamson said. Williamson is a Paragould native who earned his Bachelor of Science in finance and banking
at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1988. He has also graduated from National Commercial Lending School at the University of Oklahoma in Norman in 1994 and the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 1997. He was a member of the Army National Guard’s 142nd Field Artillery Brigade, rising to operations sergeant, from 1984 to 1991. He served with the brigade as operations sergeant during Operations Desert Storm from 1990 to 1991. Williamson has extensive community service, including current service on the board for the United Way of Northwest Arkansas. He previously served on the boards of the Springdale Kiwanis, where he was president in 2002, and received the George F. Hixson Award in 2007; Springdale Public Schools Education Foundation; Partners in Education; Springdale Chamber of Commerce; Arkansas Aviation Technology Center where he also served as chairman; and the Washington County Library Board. He is a graduate of Leadership Springdale, Class III. Williamson is married to Kelley Williamson, a business teacher at Springdale High School. They have a son, Paul and a daughter, Anna. The family attends Cross Church in Springdale.
