TEXAS BANKING NEWS, PEOPLE AND IDEAS
TEXAS BANKING NEWS, PEOPLE AND IDEAS
Neil Ferguson 
Ryan Morris, chief executive officer of Gainesville-based First State Bank, has been selected to fill a vacancy on the board of directors of the Texas Bankers Association (TBA). His term will expire May 31, 2022. Morris has more than 25 years of experience in the banking industry. After receiving his BBA degree in accounting and finance from the … Read more
Henderson-based VeraBank has hired Ryan Hamilton to serve as Longview market president. An experienced commercial banker and longtime Longview resident, Hamilton will focus on leading and growing VeraBank’s business in the area. He has been a community banker for more than 17 years and has spent most of his career in commercial lending, helping small and … Read more
Midland-based FirstCapital Bank of Texas has hired Jamie Pruitt as a mortgage loan originator at the bank’s Midland Plaza location. She attended the Texas Tech University School of Business, majoring in real estate and construction, and obtained her mortgage loan origination license through the state of Texas. Pruitt serves on the CASA of West Texas fundraising … Read more
The board of directors of Abilene-based First Financial Bank NA recently announced the promotion of Shelley Dacus to chief executive officer of the bank’s Kingwood region. She was promoted to president of the region in 2019 and now replaces Harry J. Brooks as CEO. Brooks is departing the bank at the end of the year. Dacus has more … Read more
On December 11, J. Pat Hickman, chairman of Amarillo-based Happy State Bank, and Frederick B. Hegi Jr., chairman of Tahoka-based First National Bank of Tahoka (FNB), announced that Happy State Bank is acquiring First National Bank of Tahoka through a merger. FNB Tahoka holds approximately $56 million in total assets and has one location in … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: In 2007, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis published a paper by economist Thomas A. Garrett, then an assistant vice president at the St. Louis Fed (now an associate professor in economics at the University of Mississippi), entitled Economic Effects of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic: Implications for a Modern-Day Pandemic. Have those implications … Read more
Sloan Kuehl, executive vice president and chief lending officer of Waco-based The First National Bank of Central Texas, recently announced the hiring of Ryan Henry to serve as senior vice president and banking center president at the bank’s China Spring branch. Joining him will be Natalie Hafford, who will serve the bank as Henry’s lending … Read more
Former Texas banking executive Richard T. Sharpe, 80, passed away after a brief illness on November 30. A graduate of Texas Tech University and the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University, he began his banking career in 1962 as vice president of First National Bank Weatherford. In 1965, he moved to Brownwood and … Read more
El Paso-based WestStar Bank has hired Patricia Marquez to serve as a lender in its commercial banking group. She is responsible for developing and managing commercial lending relationships and expanding new business. Marquez brings 22 years of commercial banking and 12 years of business banking management experience to WestStar Bank. She has been successful in … Read more
The Texas Bankers Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Texas Bankers Association, presented the annual Cornerstone and Leaders in Financial Education (LiFE) awards to banks at a special virtual video presentation on December 3. The Cornerstone Award recognizes excellence in community involvement by Texas banks. The following banks were honored with the 2020 Cornerstone Award. … Read more