Greg Martin Named NWA Community President For Simmons Bank
by November 20, 2015 10:47 am 452 views
Simmons First National Bank of Pine Bluff has named Arvest Bank executive Greg Martin as its new community president for Northwest Arkansas.
Martin succeeds James Stobaugh, who will remain with the company in an advisory role until he retires at the end of 2016.
Martin, a University of Arkansas graduate, had worked for Arvest Bank since 2002. He resigned on Nov. 11. Martin was also was a member of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 class in 2012.
“Greg has become a star in banking, and he will now help us grow Simmons’ market share in northwest Arkansas,” Freddie Black, the Arkansas regional chairman for Simmons Bank, said in a news release. “Greg is known for community involvement and is just the kind of community banker we want here at Simmons.”
Simmons also said that Dennis Ferguson, a longtime leader for the bank in the Northwest Arkansas market, will continue to serve in a role of community executive with extensive lending and operational responsibilities in the local market.
“Dennis is a well-connected member of the community,” Black said. “His involvement in civic affairs and his leadership in banking will allow him to play a key role in the growth of our northwest Arkansas banking operations.”
Stobaugh entered the banking industry following his graduation from the University of Arkansas in 1968. He was transferred from Pine Bluff to Fayetteville in 1992 by Worthen Banking Corp. After being retired from banking for several years, he returned to the industry as president of Little Rock-based Metropolitan National Bank’s Northwest Arkansas operations and became the northwest Arkansas regional chairman for Simmons after it acquired Metropolitan in 2013.
“James is well known in the banking industry, and we’re glad he will continue to advise us,” Black said.
Simmons First National Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Simmons First National Corp., a Pine Bluff holding company with assets of nearly $7.6 billion and operations in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee.