Forty Under 40: Francisco Cortez

Francisco Cortez managed the electronics department at a Walmart in Fayetteville when a customer offered him a banking job. He was curious and applied.

Cortez has spent the past 15 years working in the banking industry. He started as a teller at Arvest Bank in Fayetteville in October 2006. He was promoted to assistant branch manager in August 2007. In January 2015, he was promoted to branch sales manager in Stilwell, Okla., after managing the branch in Westville, Okla.

He transferred to branch manager in Prairie Grove before he started in his current role as branch administrator in December 2017. He became vice president when he was a branch manager, and shortly after being named to his current position, he became senior vice president.

He oversees six branches in Washington County and 50 employees.

“I’ve been in management roles pretty much my whole career,” Cortez said. “My passion is coaching associates, helping them move to their next career goal.”

At the Stilwell branch, he helped employees work together better and created an environment they wanted to come to. As branch manager in Prairie Grove, he helped to test and troubleshoot a new software platform that’s since been adopted companywide. He served on the Latino marketing committee for about four years and promoted diversity within Arvest.

The Bakersfield, Calif., native has lived in Lincoln throughout his roles with Arvest. After graduating from Lincoln High School in 2003, he began working at Walmart. He worked in multiple departments before he was promoted to the electronics department manager.

He’s a court-appointed advocate for children for CASA of Northwest Arkansas and serves on the board for Northwest Arkansas Equality. He enjoys hiking, CrossFit and watching movies.