Parkway Bank Management Sees Shakeup

That loud boom you heard in Benton County the week of March 19 may have been the first crack in the dam holding back a potential flood of bank woes in Northwest Arkansas.
The word on the street is some top-level management at Rogers-chartered Parkway Bank were terminated that week, though it’s unconfirmed by Parkway’s CEO and chairman, Jerry Sadler, who wouldn’t return calls. It’s also unconfirmed by the top-level management, who were “in meetings” or otherwise unavailable to talk. An anonymous insider confirmed none of the top managers were in the bank on March 22.
No matter the details, it’s clear there is some sort of shake up at the bank.
We hear there may have been some problems with a recent audit by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the bank may have some questionable loans on its books.
According to the FDIC, the bank lost $789,000 in calendar 2006 and had a negative 0.52 percent return on assets. It has three offices in Benton County and total assets of $165 million and total deposits of $137 million.
Parkway was formerly Portland Bank (Ark.), but relocated its charter to Rogers and re-named itself in 2004 in a move to attract capital and deposits from Northwest Arkansas.
The initial management team was four people from Arvest Bank-Rogers: Jerry Carmichael, who is still listed as Parkway’s area president, Bruce Branch, Barbara Davidson and Gary Kleck.