Arvest Bank has chosen Fort Smith banker Craig Rivaldo to head up its Benton County market operations. Jason Kincy, spokesman for the bank made the announcement in an email release this afternoon (April 8), just shy of one month after Dennis Smiley’s resignation on March 13.
Rivaldo will take over as CEO of Arvest Bank Benton County effective May 1. A replacement for the Fort Smith market will be made later, as a search for the right candidate is still underway, the bank said.
“Craig Rivaldo is an excellent banker and an outstanding individual who embodies the qualities that we seek as a company. His career with Arvest spans more than 27 years and, in that time, he has proven himself to be an effective leader, a trusted decision-maker, and someone who cares deeply about the communities he serves. We are fortunate to have Craig and his family as a part of Arvest in Benton County,” said Scott Grisby, a regional executive and interim president in Benton County.
Rivaldo began his career with Arvest as a trainee with McIlroy Bank in Fayetteville (now Arvest Bank, Fayetteville) in 1987. In 1999 he was one of the original associates who started Arvest’s Fort Smith operations from the ground-up. In July 2010 he was named president and CEO in Fort Smith – one of Arvest’s top-performing banks over the past few years – when John Womack was promoted to lead Arvest operations in central Arkansas. Rivaldo began his banking career in 1982 and has worked in many areas of the bank including as a credit analyst, loan operations, commercial lending and sales manager.
“I am very excited and humbled to be given the opportunity to join an incredibly strong team in Benton County. It is truly an honor to join the bank where this company was founded and to have the chance to serve these great communities and customers.” Rivaldo commented.
Arvest Bank of Benton County is the largest of Arvest’s 16 locally-managed banks and has 28 locations in 13 communities and more than 400 employees.
Rivaldo is a graduate of Northside High School in Fort Smith, Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University and the National Commercial Lending School at the University of Oklahoma. He and his wife Mary Jo have one son, Connor.