What’s your job? I’m a relationship manager. What we’re tasked with is business banking and supporting the bank through deposits and gaining business customers and fully banking the customers that we have by offering different products and services. My main focus is business development. I have a partner, Eric Lankford, and we’re in the process now of establishing our department here. He’s been a tremendous help, because he has many years of banking experience, but he’s new to the community. So he and I together make a great team, because I know quite a few people and he has the experience. I spend the majority of my time out of the office, building a presence in the community and building relationships.
What does treasury management at Arvest Bank entail? What we provide is the ability to use different types of services (such) as online services and being able to give (business customers) additional options for financial services. … Our biggest product is called Cash Manager, a full suite of online banking tools. We have everything from being able to view accounts online to being completely interactive with your finances. … With the relationships that we’re building along the way, we can be proactive with our customers and start developing the things they need to run their businesses smoothly.
What have you learned so far about the needs of local businesses? What we’re doing right now is just trying to have conversations with people and getting to know their businesses and develop relationships. It almost always comes back to that, because until you become a trusted adviser, it’s very difficult to uncover the needs. A lot of folks don’t want to share what their financial needs are with people that they don’t trust or know very well. We’ve spent a lot of time just visiting with people, not necessarily talking so much about Arvest, but really trying to learn more about them.
Was it difficult to leave the American Heart Association after three years as regional director? The decision to leave was very difficult because I was – and am – extremely passionate about health care, and primarily, women’s health care. With the Heart Association, I think the accomplishment that I’m most proud of is assisting our volunteers and committee members and the association to raise the awareness to the level that many people knew about the association and especially Go Red for Women. I’m very proud of that, and I had a lot of help along the way.
What attracted you to Arvest? It’s not a bank that’s trying to come in and literally put a bank on every corner. They really want to build their foundation into the community, and that falls into everything that I love. For that reason, it was an easy decision, because we have the same culture and the same ideals, and that’s one of the reasons that I chose to come here. … It’s not as much a career change as it is a new opportunity and a career challenge for me. I really care about Springfield. This is my community, and I’m invested. That’s what I felt with Arvest – that they are, too.
Will your job allow for continued involvement with community organizations? I have recently been accepted into Leadership Springfield Class XXVI. I’m very excited about that. It will give me a lot of opportunities to stay involved in the community. I’m still a Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce ambassador, so I still go to ribbon-cuttings. I think that through the Leadership Springfield class, I’ll uncover a lot of opportunities to help in ways that I didn’t know about before, and Arvest has been extremely supportive of me staying involved in the community and also, all of our associates being involved. [[In-content Ad]]
A Springfield couple launched 24-hour fitness center Iron Knights Strafford; Springfield-based Meridian Title Co. LLC made its debut in Mount Vernon; and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in conjunction with the grand opening of Render Flooring LLC.
