John Griesemer
Photos courtesy GUARANTY BANK
The Guaranty Federal Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: GFED) Board of Directors selected a chairman to succeed the retiring Don Gibson.
On May 25, Jim Batten, a former executive of Convoy of Hope, AG Financial Solutions and O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: ORLY), will become chairman. Gibson, the former CEO of Guaranty, reached the company’s mandatory retirement age of 72 and will step down that same day, according to a news release.
As executive vice president of Convoy of Hope for five years, Batten helped grow operating revenue to more than $100 million from $45 million. He previously worked as chief operations officer at AG Financial and 14 years as chief financial officer at O’Reilly, during which time the company was taken public and moved to $2.3 billion in revenue from $110 million.
Batten, who now works as an independent consultant, has served as a director on the Guaranty board since May 2006.
The board also named Springfield Underground Inc. Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer John Griesemer as vice chairman. A Guaranty director since June 2008, Griesemer is also chairman of the board of Mercy Springfield Communities, according to the release.
“Both of these high-caliber and talented individuals have provided strong leadership and guidance to our company over the past several years,” Guaranty President and CEO Shaun Burke said in the release. “This transition demonstrates Guaranty’s commitment to long-term succession planning and our future growth and success.”
In the first quarter, Guaranty posted net income available to common shareholders of $1.28 million, a roughly 4 percent dip from $1.33 million a year earlier.
GFED shares were trading at $16.10 as of 9:18 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $14.15 to $16.25.
