TEXAS BANKING NEWS, PEOPLE AND IDEAS
TEXAS BANKING NEWS, PEOPLE AND IDEAS
San Antonio-based Broadway Bank recently announced the hiring of Blake Absher as executive vice president and Austin market executive to spearhead strategic growth in Central Texas. The bank entered the market in 2012 and currently has seven locations in Austin and the surrounding area, and it’s positioned to expand services and hire more talent in 2021. Regional expansion … Read more
Pawhuska, Oklahoma-based Blue Sky Bank recently expanded into Texas with the opening of its San Antonio branch on January 21. The new branch, located at 13750 San Pedro Ave., Ste 275, is the bank’s seventh, and its first location in Texas. “The expansion represents Blue Sky Bank’s dedication to serving entrepreneurs and their local businesses … Read more
Deirdre Cherry has joined Fort Worth-based Bank of Texas as private wealth team lead. She is responsible for overseeing sales and service processes, and personally working with some of the largest customer relationships in the bank’s private wealth division. As a banking executive for more than 20 years, Cherry joins Bank of Texas having previously served as … Read more
Cuero-based TrustTexas Bank is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year in grand style. On January 26, the bank invited customers, members of local chambers of commerce and other members of the five communities in which it operates to help mark the occasion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, recollections and revelry. During the celebration at the bank’s … Read more
On January 28, Lubbock-based FirstBank & Trust of Texas announced the retirement of CEO Barry Orr, effective March 31. He is the organizer and founder of the bank, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year. Orr will continue to serve as chairman of the board for FirstBank & Trust, as well as on the board … Read more
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based Valliance Bank, which operates Texas locations in McKinney and Fort Worth, announced that Shelby Bruhn has been elected chief lending officer and executive vice president by the board of directors. He joined the bank in 2016 and has more than 20 years of experience. Bruhn has served as Texas market president and commercial lender … Read more
Karla Hollins has joined Jacksonville-based Austin Bank as assistant vice president and relationship manager in the company’s Lufkin office. With more than 26 years of banking experience in management, operations and lending, Hollins comes to Austin Bank from Regions Bank where she served as vice president/consumer banking manager with responsibility for the oversight of 14 … Read more
Terry Christian, Paris-based Peoples Bank’s president, retired at the end of 2020 and the bank’s board voted unanimously to promote T. Bradley Perry to fill the position, according to a report in The Paris News. Christian served as president of the bank for 31 years. “In 1989, (Chairman and CEO) Ronnie Abbott and the existing … Read more
Ben Wallace, chairman of the board of Corpus Christi-based American Bank, has announced that Clayton J. Hoover Jr. has been elected to the bank’s board of directors and Robert Greenwood has been appointed to serve as chairman of the bank’s advisory board of directors. Advisory board members act as bank ambassadors and provide advice and … Read more
The Baker Group LP, one of the nation’s largest independently owned securities firms specializing in investment portfolio and interest rate risk management, recently announced the promotion of Kathryn Phillips, CPA, to chief operating officer. She has served for nearly 20 years as chief financial officer for the firm and will maintain that title and role … Read more