Shepard named president of Arvest Bank in Springfield

Arvest Bank has announced that Rodney Shepard, currently sales manager and executive vice president of Arvest banking operations in Fort Smith, will become president of Arvest’s Springfield, Mo., operations.

He replaces Mike Daw, who will become the Chairman of the Springfield Bank and continue with his position through a 12-18 month transition.

“Rodney came to Arvest after many years of service and leadership with Superior as a lending and retail manager. Over the past seven years he has continued a leadership role at the Fort Smith Bank, most recently as Sales Manager,” Scott Grigsby, regional president of Arvest, said in the statement. “We look forward to his leadership and management to continue the growth of this very important Springfield market.”

Shepard attended Carl Albert State College and graduated from Northeastern State University with a bachelor’s degree in management before going on to receive his master’s in business administration from Webster University. He also graduated from the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University, ABA Commercial Lending School in Dallas and MidSouth School of Banking in Memphis.

Shepard began his banking career in 1991 at Norwest Financial in Roland. In 1993 he joined Superior Federal Bank where he held many positions in lending and management. When Arvest acquired Superior bank in 2004, Rodney became branch administrator and then was promoted to sales manager in 2005.

Shepard is very involved in the community, particularly with the Riverfront Blues Society and the United Way; he has served both organizations more than 16 years as past president and board member, respectively.  He also currently serves on the Fort Smith Symphony Association Board, 188th Fighter Wing/Fort Chaffee Community Council, as a trustee of the Carl Albert State College Education Foundation and the Roland Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee.

“I am ready to get to work in Springfield and will make the transition over the next several months. It is exciting and rewarding to be blessed with this opportunity, but it will certainly be hard to leave the Fort Smith associates, my life-long community and all of the people I’ve become close to and who have shared so many memories with me over the years,” Shepard said.