A number of promotions were announced at Longview-based Texas Bank and Trust’s employee awards dinner held on March 21 in Longview.
Allison Benton has been promoted to vice president and enterprise project manager. She joined the bank’s accounting department in 2007 and later transferred to the trust department as a retirement plan analyst, and then to the compliance area of the technology department. She is currently enterprise project manager in the bank’s operations division. Her duties include project management, contract management and vendor evaluations and implementation. Benton holds a BS degree in accounting from East Texas Baptist University. She has served as a Junior Achievement volunteer at Longview High School, and has volunteered for Greater Longview United Way, AlleyFest, Habitat for Humanity, Longview Museum of Fine Arts, World of Wonders, On Mission Ministries and the Longview Symphony. She is a member of Financial Women in Texas, for which she served as marketing director at the state level.
Aida Howard has been named vice president/wealth management. She joined the bank in 2014 as an accountant in its trust division. Most recently she has served as wealth management operations manager with responsibilities for supervision of the wealth management operations and middle-office staff, assisting various wealth management officers and assistants with system processing, and overseeing the generation and issuance of various annual tax documents. Howard holds a BBA degree in management from Wiley College. She is a graduate of Texas Bank and Trust’s 2018 Leadership Class and has served as a volunteer for United Way, as a board member for Longview World of Wonders and as a Junior Achievement instructor at J.L. Everhart Elementary School.
Ryan Davis is now vice president/wealth management. He joined the bank in 2011 and has served in several positions within the wealth management division. His duties include managing existing portfolios for wealth management, retirement plan services and investment management accounts. Davis holds a BBA degree from Baylor University. He serves on the board of directors for the Longview Arboretum and Nature Center.
Linda Brooks has been promoted to assistant vice president/wealth and trust officer, wealth management. She has worked in the banking industry for 43 years. She began her career with Texas Bank and Trust in 2002 in the commercial lending division as assistant to the president. Since transferring to the wealth management division, she worked as a personal trust assistant, trust administrative support specialist and most recently as a trust administrator, managing and maintaining a portfolio of accounts consisting of personal trusts, court-created trusts, IRAs and estates. Brooks graduated from Kilgore College with an associate degree in business administration. She is also a graduate of the Texas Trust School and the Texas Graduate Trust School in Dallas, and participated in the Texas Bank and Trust 2009 Leadership Class. She currently serves as the scholarship committee chair for Women in Longview.
Aaron May has been named administrative officer/assistant advertising manager. He joined the marketing division of the bank in 2014. He previously worked as a marketing specialist for KSA Engineers in Longview and as a reporter and photographer for the Kilgore News Herald and Gladewater Mirror. He currently maintains the content and design of the bank’s intranet platform and leads the bank’s internal production studio, TBT Studios. May holds a BA degree in journalism from the University of Texas–Tyler.
Ashley Patin is now administrative officer/loan servicing supervisor. She has worked in the financial services industry since 2016. She joined Texas Bank and Trust in 2020 in the loan operations department and was responsible for booking loans until 2022 when she was promoted to loan servicing supervisor. Patin holds a BBA degree in finance from Midwestern State University. Shen has served as a volunteer for the Spirit of St. Louis Therapeutic Riding Center in Tyler.
Heather Mitchell has been promoted to administrative officer/operations manager at the main bank in Longview. She joined the bank in 2022. She studied business management at Kilgore College and the University of Texas–Tyler. A graduate of the Super 1 Foods manager trainee program, she was employed with the company for 11 years before beginning her banking career in 2012. Mitchell is a Longview Community Ministries board member.
Molly Horn has been named administrative officer/facilities and support services. Shen joined Texas Bank and Trust in 2022 in the facilities and support services department. Her work experience includes administration, communication, management and construction. She currently assists the bank’s 28 locations with daily facility needs and capital projects. Horn serves on the missions committee and church leadership council of Mobberly Baptist Church.
Texas Bank and Trust has also announced promotions at several of its branches:
Canton
Lace Deibert has been promoted to president for its Canton and Van branches. She has worked in the financial services industry for 15 years, the past 10 of which have been with Texas Bank and Trust. She holds a BS degree in renewable natural resources from Texas A&M University and is a graduate of the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University. Active in her community, Deibert is a member of the Women’s League of Canton, past president of the Canton Lions Club, current board member of the Canton Texas Chamber of Commerce and volunteer for the Canton Elementary School. She was recently recognized as “Best Loan Officer” by the 2023 Van Zandt County Readers’ Choice Awards.
Jonathan Weakley is now assistant vice president and mortgage loan originator. He joined the bank in 2021 as a mortgage loan officer. He has been working in mortgage lending in East Texas for the past 11 years. Weakley attended Trinity Valley Community College. He is a volunteer for the Manna House Food Bank in Canton.
Lance Tate has been promoted to banking officer/commercial lending. He began his banking career in 2014 as a bank teller while attending Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He has been employed with Texas Bank and Trust since 2018. Tate is a member of the Canton Rotary Club.
Frisco
Letty Mota has been promoted to wealth and trust officer in its wealth management division in Frisco. She began her career with Texas Bank and Trust in 2017. She attended Mountain View Community College and graduated from ITI Technical College in Dallas. She served as PTA president in the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) for seven years. She served as a site-based decision-making board member for the DISD for four years, and has volunteered countless hours as a high school marching band booster mom, as well as donating her time at her sons’ colleges, the University of Texas–Austin and Texas A&M University–Kingsville. Mota has won several awards within the fitness community for her work with the City of Irving, City of Duncanville, City of Colleyville, City of Valley Ranch and the City of Dallas in providing fitness training for city employees and their community members.
Bryan Niezgoda is now a banking officer/portfolio manager. He joined the bank’s Frisco lending team as a credit analyst in 2021 and was promoted to senior credit analyst in 2022. He holds a BBA degree in accounting from Texas Tech University.
Forney and Terrell
Crystal Brown has been promoted to administrative officer in Texas Bank and Trust’s Terrell and Forney branches. She began her banking career as a teller with the bank in 2014. She currently serves as operations manager for both branches. A Trinity Valley Community College attendee, Brown completed the bank’s Leadership Class in 2022.
Lee Carter has been promoted to vice president/portfolio manager in the bank’s Forney branch. He served in the U.S. Army with the 101st Airborne Division from 2009 to 2012 and began his banking career at the conclusion of his enlistment. He joined Texas Bank and Trust in 2015 and in 2021 was promoted to assistant vice president/portfolio manager. Carter holds a BBA degree in finance and an MBA degree, both from the University of Texas–Tyler. He currently serves as president of the Forney Lions Club.
Lindale
Jeannie Tomlinson has been promoted to vice president at the Lindale branch. She has been involved in the banking industry for 24 years, 12 of those with Texas Bank and Trust. She has experience as a teller and in the areas of bookkeeping and new accounts, and currently serves as branch manager. Tomlinson is an active member of the Hideaway Lake Kiwanis Club.
Laura Duncan is now a banking officer/mortgage loan originator in Lindale. She has been employed with the bank since 2011. Beginning as a teller, she has also worked as a lending assistant, mortgage coordinator, mortgage processor and, finally, mortgage loan originator. A Van native, Duncan graduated from Tyler Junior College with an associate degree in general studies. She volunteers with the Lindale Chamber of Commerce, most recently serving on the silent auction committee for its annual banquet and auction.
Tyler
Emma Bothwell has been promoted to assistant vice president/real estate risk manager. She joined Texas Bank and Trust in 2017 and has held the position of real estate risk manager since 2021. Her responsibilities include the management of the bank’s appraisal and environmental risk functions. Bothwell holds a BBA degree in finance and an MBA degree from the University of Texas–Tyler where she was a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success and president of the Financial Management Association. She is a member of Financial Women in Texas and is a recipient of the “Mousters Degree” in Exploring Leadership from the Walt Disney Co.
Kelli Horn Epperson is now assistant vice president/area operations manager in Tyler. She began her career with the bank in its main branch location in Longview in 2012. She was subsequently promoted to operations manager in its Broadway location and currently manages operations in its Grande Avenue office.
Established in 1958, Texas Bank and Trust Co. operates 21 branches throughout East Texas and the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.
