Forty Under 40: Roger Holroyd

By day, he’s a mild mannered vice president who manages a personal-loan portfolio of more than $40 million. By night, First Arvest Bank’s Roger Holroyd splits his time between teaching finance and accounting at John Brown University and participating in numerous activities at the Eastgate Church of Christ.

A native of Cedar Vale, Kan., Holroyd grew up on a family farm. After graduating from Harding University in Searcy, he handled problem energy and agriculture loans at Bank One in Texas for several years before returning to Northwest Arkansas. He’s been with the Siloam Springs bank for seven and a half years, starting when it was still First National Bank of Siloam Springs. Just this year he assisted First Arvest in managing its name change.

Holroyd, 38, once served as a public accountant, where the favorite part of his job was talking to clients about banking relationships and debt structuring. So he followed his interest in banking by pursuing a master’s degree at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.

Long term, he hopes to continue working with the Arvest Bank Group, which Holroyd said he “loves.” He’d also like to keep his one-night-a-week gig in the JBU Advance Program because he finds teaching very rewarding.