Chip Blanchard, who is succeeding his father Charles as CEO and board chair of First State Bank
First State Bank of Russellville on Tuesday announced that Charles Bowen “Chip” Blanchard will succeed his father, Charles H. Blanchard, as CEO and board chair.
The elder Blanchard has led the bank since 1999. He’ll move to a role as vice chair.
The younger Blanchard has more than 20 years of banking experience, including the past eight as First State’s president and chief operating officer. During his tenure, the bank’s total assets have grown from around $210 million to $483 million. It has also expanded to northwest Arkansas.
“The board is confident that Chip’s knowledge, experience, and passion will lead First State Bank in its strategic objectives, as well as drive future growth and success,” the bank said in a news release.
Chip Blanchard currently serves as a board member of the Russellville Regional Economic Development Alliance. He’s a former board chair of the Russellville Area Chamber of Commerce and Russellville City Corporation. He has also served on the board of the Arkansas Bankers Association.
Blanchard earned a bachelor’s in finance and marketing from the University of Arkansas in 2002 and is a 2014 graduate of the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking.
He’s the grandson of William H. “Bill” Bowen, the famed Arkansas banker and lawyer who died in 2014 at age 91. Bowen’s stock in the bank’s holding company, First State Banking Corp., was transferred in 2016 to a trust controlled by his three children, including Cynthia Blanchard, the wife of former CEO Charles Blanchard.
At the time, the Blanchard and Bowen families controlled more than 60% of the stock in the holding company.
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