Legacy National Bank names Patrick Swope new CEO

The board of directors of Springdale-chartered Legacy National Bank announced Thursday (Sept. 28) the promotion of president Patrick Swope to CEO, effective Nov. 1. Swope assumes the title previously held by Don L. Gibson, who has held the chief executive’s role since the bank was founded in 2005.

“We have great confidence in Patrick’s leadership and are excited about the future of our bank,” board chairman Gary George said in a news release. “We are also grateful to Don for the excellent job he has done leading our bank since the founding.”

Gibson, 70, will remain with the bank as CEO Emeritus and will continue serving on the board, focusing on developing customer relationships and growth strategies while being active in the communities the bank serves.

“Patrick will provide the energetic leadership needed to continue Legacy’s growth in the Northwest Arkansas community,” Gibson said in a statement. “He will bring continued focus to our vision of being the community bank for generations to come. Patrick’s commitment to Legacy combined with our excellent banking team puts Legacy in a very strong position.”

Swope, 44, has over 20 years of banking experience and has served side by side with Gibson since the bank’s founding, initially as chief operating officer. He was named president in 2016

“I look forward to continuing to work with such an amazing team and building on what we started back in 2005,” Swope said.

Legacy has five locations in Springdale (3) Fayetteville and Rogers, and has been given approval to build a new banking center at the southwest corner of Walton Boulevard and Southwest 28th Street in Bentonville. Gibson said he expects a groundbreaking in October, and the new office is expected to open late next year.  Legacy also recently hired longtime Benton County banking executive Jeremy Woody to lead the bank’s day-to-day operations at the Bentonville and Rogers locations.

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Legacy had $441.5 million in assets as of June 30, an increase of nearly 19% in the past year.

Gibson said Legacy employs over 85 bankers.