Arvest Equipment Finance breaks production record in 2020

Arvest Equipment Finance (AEF) closed more than $279 million in new production in 2020, a record total for the division of Arvest Bank. The production numbers were announced Thursday (Jan. 21). It represents a 13.4% increase in gross production compared with 2019

“I am so proud of our AEF team and its resilience,” AEF president Eric Bunnell said in a statement. “Like many companies, we were faced with a lot of challenges in 2020, but our team remained flexible and kept its focus on providing excellent customer service in spite of whatever challenges arose. The result, in addition to a lot of satisfied customers, was another year of record production and a very rewarding year for all our team members.”

AEF’s total portfolio jumped more than 21% year-over-year, from $421.8 million in 2019 to $513.7 million in 2020.

AEF also announced two personnel moves Thursday. John Bradford is promoted to director of sales and John Raymond Pitre is promoted to regional sales manager.

“With our continued growth, we had a need to separate our sales associates into bank and vendor production teams,” Bunnell said.

Bradford has more than 20 years of industry experience, including more than six years with AEF, and most recently served as sales manager. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance, with a minor in accounting, from Oklahoma State University and a master’s in business administration from the University of Tulsa. He received the Certified Lease & Finance Professional designation in 2015.

“John Bradford has done an amazing job overseeing the production growth and will continue to lead all bank sales activities in this new role,” Bunnell said.

Pitre has 10 years of industry experience and has been an AEF team member since 2015, focusing largely on developing vendor relationships. Also a Certified Lease & Finance Professional, Pitre earned a bachelor’s degree in sports administration from the University of Southern Mississippi, where he also earned a master’s in business administration and a master’s in management.

“John Raymond will lead our vendor team and continue to look for new relationships in that regard as we continue to expand our footprint,” Bunnell said.

AEF is headquartered in Fort Smith with locations in Little Rock, Kansas City and Tulsa, and does business throughout Arvest’s four-state footprint.