Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff (Nasdaq: SFNC) on Monday named Robert "Bob" Fehlman the company's next CEO.
Current CEO and Chairman George Makris Jr. is moving to a role as full-time chairman on Jan. 1. He'll continue to lead the bank's boards of directors and will work directly with Fehlman and other executives on strategic initiatives and the leadership transition.
Makris has been CEO since 2014 and has served as a board member since 1997.
Fehlman, Simmons' current president and chief operating officer, has worked for either the company or its affiliates since 1988. Simmons said that after the transition, Fehlman will lead the development of the publicly traded company's "better bank" initiatives and manage the other day-to-day responsibilities of chief executive.
Succeeding Fehlman as president will be James "Jay" Brogdon, the company's current executive vice president and CFO. Brogdon will keep his CFO title and duties, and will assume oversight of all revenue production for the company.
"Simmons has developed an outstanding bank management team — one that is deep on talent and experience but also has a long runway ahead of them," Makris said in a statement. "I am, therefore, very proud that our organization will be making these changes now to provide expanded leadership within the excellent banking team we have built."
