Mums the Word
by March 31, 2014 12:00 am 79 views
The dam has not yet burst on why one of Northwest Arkansas’ most veteran and well-thought-of bankers walked away from Arvest Bank after 25 years.
But that’s what Dennis Smiley did on March 13, abruptly leaving the state’s largest bank without a president for Arvest Benton County, the largest of the lender’s 16 locally managed markets.
The catalyst for Smiley’s exit? No one seems to want to talk about it. Mum’s the word from Arvest, except to confirm that a search is on for Smiley’s replacement.
Other executives we’ve chatted with — banking and otherwise — all seem stand-offish and uncomfortable when the subject is broached.
“It is the quietest I’ve observed,” one insider told us. “Nobody’s talking that I’ve heard.”
Whether it’s a financial or personal issue is unclear. It is worth noting, however, that a recently remodeled, 3,160-SF home on Champions Drive at Pinnacle Country Club went on the market March 18, with a list price of $649,000.
The current owners? Dennis and Cynthia Smiley. The couple bought the home in 2012 for $385,000.