The Board of Directors of Farmers and Merchants Bank and the Bank of Fayetteville announces the appointment of Brad Chambless as Chief Executive Officer and President as of January 1, 2021.
Chambless joined Farmers and Merchants Bank in 2006 and most recently served as Executive Vice President and member of the Board of Directors. He succeeds Gary Hudson, who served as the bank’s CEO from 2010-2020.
“We are very fortunate to have Brad Chambless on our team and available to step into his new role,” stated Chairman of the Board Mickey Pierce. “He has proven to be a tireless worker and focused everyday on the success of our institution through our employees and management. I look forward to our future with great optimism.”
Chambless is a 1987 graduate of Dumas High School and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Arkansas at Monticello. He went on to earn a law degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, practicing law in Arkansas for 10 years before entering the banking industry.
“I am honored and thankful for the opportunity to lead Farmers & Merchants Bank and the Bank of Fayetteville”, responded Chambless. “While our institution has successfully grown to become the 10 th largest bank chartered in Arkansas, we are truly focused on serving each of the communities where we are located. I am very proud to lead a team of bankers who are devoted to serving customers at the grassroots level every day.”
In addition to his role at Farmers and Merchants and the Bank of Fayetteville, Chambless is active throughout the regional community as a board director of Acres of Hope, Inc., the Arkansas County Imagination Library, the Stuttgart Rotary Club and the Arkansas Bar Association. Chambless also formerly served as a foundation board member for the Phillips County Community College of the University of Arkansas, member of the Arkansas Bankers Association agricultural sub-committee and director and vice chairman of Arkansas Capital Corporation.
Farmers and Merchants Bank, headquartered in Stuttgart, is a locally-owned community bank with 26 locations across the state of Arkansas, including eight operating as the Bank of Fayetteville. With assets in excess of $1.6 billion, Farmers and Merchants is the 10th largest bank chartered in Arkansas.
