Encore Bank bolsters NWA division with executive hires

Little Rock-based Encore Bank (formerly The Capital Bank) has recruited two new executives to join its leadership team in Northwest Arkansas.

Patrick Woodruff and Hunter Norton have joined the bank as senior vice presidents. Chris Howe, the bank’s executive vice president and Northwest Arkansas market president, announced the hires in a news release Tuesday (Dec. 17).

“We are thrilled to have Patrick and Hunter join our Northwest Arkansas Encore Bank team,” Howe said in a statement. “They each bring a unique skill-set to commercial banking and deepening client relationships. Their combined experience will better allow Encore Bank to expand in the Northwest Arkansas market while providing value to our clients and partners.”

Woodruff, who is a Rogers native, graduated from the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He has 15 years of banking experience with expertise in commercial lending. He spent the past seven years working for Bank OZK.

Norton is a 2005 graduate of the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the UA with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, majoring in finance. Norton brings nearly 15 years of experience in the state’s banking industry, including time spent as an Arkansas State Bank Department examiner, with knowledge of FDIC-assisted transactions and as a commercial banker. He also has completed the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Colorado.  Norton spent the past seven years working for First Security Bank.

Encore Bank was formed in 1997. In mid-March this year, Burt Hicks and several investor-managers moved into executive roles and began reshaping the bank with $161 million in assets

The bank now has assets of almost $300 million as of Nov. 30, according to the most recent data from the FDIC. The bank entered the Northwest Arkansas market earlier this year when it announced Howe as market president.