Mid-Missouri Bank expected to fill president vacancy

Mid-Missouri Bank is awaiting approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to name its new president and CEO – a position that’s been vacant since Brad Weaver resigned April 4. Weaver held the position for just nine months before leaving the Springfield-based bank, which has 15 branches throughout southwest Missouri. Weaver was promoted to CEO of bank operations last July after serving as community bank president of Mid-Missouri’s Republic branch for a little more than two years.

Mid-Missouri Bancshares Inc. President and CEO Lee Gilbert continued in his role as chairman of the bank’s board of directors after Weaver was promoted, according to a bank news release issued at the time.

In a June 3 phone interview from his home, Weaver said he’s actively seeking employment opportunities in the local banking industry. He declined to comment in detail about why he left Mid-Missouri Bank, which came under investigation by the FDIC, Missouri Division of Finance and FBI in April 2007 after five employees were fired from its Joplin region.

“It was a good time for me to separate,” Weaver said. “What I told Mr. Gilbert and what my (resignation) letter said is there is a time when parties should separate, and for us, that was the time.”

In the wings?

Weaver said that Mid-Missouri has selected his successor and that the bank’s new president and CEO was reportedly scheduled to begin in early July. DeDe Epley, assistant vice president of human resources at Mid-Missouri, said she could neither confirm nor deny Weaver’s claim. She said the bank wouldn’t make any announcements regarding its new president and CEO until it receives FDIC clearance.

FDIC spokeswoman LaJuan Williams-Dickerson said she couldn’t comment on operating institutions, although she noted that there were no pending enforcement actions against Mid-Missouri.

Meanwhile, Weaver said his job search is in full swing.

“I intend to stay in the banking business,” he said. “I’ve done this almost 30 years. I enjoy it, and I want to stay in this market. I’m actively pursuing any opportunity that presents itself.”

Weaver joined Mid-Missouri in March 2005, when he was head of Town and Country Bank – an institution that was later folded into Mid-Missouri’s bank charter. Prior to that, Weaver was an independent manufacturer’s representative for Monett-based EFCO Corp., which was acquired last year by Iowa-based Pella Corp. Weaver also spent 16 years with UMB Bank, where he was in charge of the bank’s southwest Missouri operations for six years.

Weaver also is president of the board of directors of the Developmental Center of the Ozarks, a Springfield-based nonprofit that provides support services to developmentally disabled children and adults in a 12-county area.