Ed Way honored with Community Room at Centennial Bank’s main office in Jonesboro

Officials with Centennial Bank as well as Craighead County and local chamber officials formally dedicated on Thursday (Dec. 3) the Ed Way Community Room on the third floor of the bank’s main branch on Highland Drive in Jonesboro.

Way, who served as the chairman of the Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce’s governmental affairs committee, died Feb. 13, 2015 after a battle with cancer. At the time of his death, Way was the Jonesboro market president for Centennial Bank and had served as an executive vice president of the bank’s predecessor, Liberty Bank.

Craighead County Treasurer Terry McNatt said Way was active in the community.

“He was at every meeting. He was always there and always smiling,” McNatt said.

Selena Barber, senior vice president for business development at Centennial Bank, said the new name for the room came in a roundabout way. A community group was wanting to use the third floor conference room at the bank for a meeting and needed to know the name of the room for a brochure, Barber said.

The building was not named, so the idea came about to honor Way. Barber said Way was not only active in the community but also with Arkansas State University.

“Everyone who knew him, he always had a smile and a handshake for them,” Barber said of her mentor. “We thought this was the perfect way to honor him.”

Barber said Way was a “wonderful, generous, caring, funny man” who had compassion for the people he met.

“He was a great mentor and was a great boss,” Barber said.