Arvest Bank promotes Kelly Carlson to loan manager in Benton County

Kelly Carlson has worn numerous hats in over 15 years working for Fayetteville-chartered Arvest Bank. Earlier this month, he added a new title.

The bank tapped Carlson to be loan manager for the Arvest Benton County (ABC) market, effective Jan. 15. Arvest Benton County is the largest of the company’s 14 locally managed markets in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

Carlson is replacing Mark Ryan, who announced his retirement effective March 31 after working for the bank for 30 years.

Carlson joined the company in 2008 as a commercial loan assistant. He earned a promotion to credit analyst two years later, became a commercial lender two years after that and was appointed vice president in 2014.

In the summer of 2017, Arvest named Carlson the commercial banking team lead for downtown Bentonville. He’s been Arvest Benton County’s commercial loan manager since the spring of 2021.

“Throughout his career, Kelly has demonstrated his ability to lead with passion and build strong relationships with both his customers and fellow associates,” Arvest Benton County President and CEO Brad Crain wrote in a memo to employees earlier this month and obtained by the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal. “As commercial loan manager, Kelly has led ABC’s commercial team to record production for three consecutive years and helped the team surpass $1 billion in outstanding commercial loans in 2023.”

Carlson, a Bentonville High School graduate, was elected to the Bentonville Schools Board of Education in 2019 and is the president. He also sits on the NorthWest Arkansas Community College Foundation and Scott Family Amazeum boards.

According to the FDIC, Arvest Bank is the state’s third-largest lender, with assets totaling $27.3 billion as of Sept. 30, 2023. Bank OZK of Little Rock ($32.7 billion) and Simmons Bank of Pine Bluff ($27.5 billion) are the only larger banks.