Natasha Henderson has been hired as the new director of system planning at Southwest Power Pool of Little Rock. Henderson has 17 years of electric utility experience and will direct the development of SPP’s transmission expansion plan to address future needs, as well as oversee engineering policies to support members and to comply with reliability standards and criteria.
Cromwell Architects Engineers of Little Rock has hired three: Ashley Brosh, a graduate from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, has been hired as a financial analyst; Nathan Helms, a certified energy manager, certified quality management systems lead auditor and a graduate of the Arkansas Engineering Emerging Leader program, has been hired as a mechanical engineer; and Ali Honarmand, a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, has been hired as an electrical engineer.
Ethan Branscum has been named vice president of agribusiness and capital markets at AgHeritage Farm Credit Services of Little Rock. Branscum, who joined AgHeritage in 2020 as an agribusiness credit officer, will oversee the agribusiness lending platform and capital markets business in his new role. Deanna Speer has been promoted to executive assistant and corporate secretary at AgHeritage. Speer joined AgHeritage in 1994 and has served as executive assistant to the CEO and board of directors since 1997. Drew Taylor has been promoted to senior vice president and chief business officer of AgHeritage. Taylor, who joined the firm in 1996, will join the executive leadership team and oversee the association’s information technology, business enablement and compliance areas.
Kelly Freudensprung has joined Alcoa Community Federal Credit Union as the senior consumer lending specialist. Freudensprung has more than 40 years of experience in management and marketing and is the first to join the credit union’s Sheridan branch, set to open this spring.
Robert Halliburton has been promoted at Chambers Bank of Danville. Halliburton is the new regional president of western Arkansas and will oversee the bank’s five locations in the region, at Fort Smith, Van Buren, Mansfield, Waldron and Mena. Halliburton has been at Chambers Bank since 2017, most recently as regional chief lending officer.
Wonda London has been hired as community inclusion lender at Southern Bancorp Community Partners. SBCP is the nonprofit arm of Southern Bancorp of Arkadelphia. London, who will be based in Little Rock, will work to increase awareness of bank services and help with recruitment efforts, provide credit counseling and facilitate financial literacy programs.
Allen Moore has been hired as a senior vice president, commercial lender at FNBC of Ash Flat. Moore will serve the bank’s newest branch, in Mountain Home.
Jimmy Ritchie has joined Carty & Co. of Memphis as vice president of its Little Rock office. Carty & Co. opened its Little Rock office in 2022, and Ritchie will help oversee and enhance the firm’s institutional sales. In addition to traditional bonds, Ritchie will also focus on trading USDA and Small Business Administration whole loans.
See more of this week's Movers & Shakers, and submit your own announcement at ArkansasBusiness.com/Movers.
