Local Arvest Bank branch opens

The branch is the Bentonville, Ark.-based bank’s first local office, though not its first in southwest Missouri. The bank has two locations in Branson with plans for at least two more, and it has 10 locations in the Joplin area.

The bank is leasing about 2,600 square feet at the Offices of Thornbury Place, 1435 E. Bradford Parkway, Ste. 100, managed by Carleton Properties LLC.

Michal Moss Early leads the Springfield office as branch manager, and two senior vice presidents/client advisers for private banking have been hired – both from Great Southern Bancorp.

Mike Bennitt previously worked in client services and executive management at Great Southern Investments. He is a certified financial planner, an accredited wealth management adviser and a certified investment management analyst.

Greg Macchi, also from Great Southern, specializes in asset management, retirement planning strategies and generational wealth transfers.

Bennitt and Macchi will also serve Branson-area Arvest customers.

A fourth employee, Jaclyn Boatright, has been hired as an investment assistant. Arvest Regional Manager Scott Grigsby is serving as interim president for the Springfield market.

Arvest plans to have about eight Springfield employees in the next six months, Grigsby told Springfield Business Journal in May.