Arkansas Business

Tyler Vance

Tyler Vance had already been selected as a 40 Under 40 honoree when he was merely a promising young executive vice president at Bank of the Ozarks. Then last month he got a big promotion to chief banking officer.
Now five division presidents in Arkansas and Texas report to Vance, while CEO George Gleason turns his attention to integrating the new markets that BOZ has acquired in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina in the past year.
Vance grew up in Cabot, where he graduated from Cabot High School. He earned an accounting degree from Ouachita Baptist University in 1996 and began auditing banks as a staff accountant for Deloitte in Little Rock.
He joined Community Bank of Cabot (now Centennial Bank) in 2001 and was its CFO when he joined Bank of the Ozarks as a senior vice president in 2006. He was promoted to EVP in 2009, and the bank's rapid growth through the FDIC-assisted acquisition of failing banks on the East Coast gave him a chance to continue moving up.
"I like to think I was doing a good job, but that coupled with the growth of our company has created this opportunity," he said. "Working for the best-performing bank in America provides a lot of opportunities."
Vance also serves on the board of directors of Lonoke County Christian Clinic, a provider of free medical and dental care.