BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Arvest Bank announced today that Craig Rivaldo, president and CEO of Arvest Bank of Fort Smith, has been named the president and CEO of Arvest Bank of Benton County effective May 1.

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In making the announcement, Scott Grigsby, a regional executive of Arvest Bank and interim president and CEO in Benton County, said, “Craig Rivaldo is an excellent banker and an outstanding individual who embodies the qualities that we seek as a company. His career with Arvest spans more than 27 years and, in that time, he has proven himself to be an effective leader, a trusted decision-maker, and someone who cares deeply about the communities he serves. We are fortunate to have Craig and his family as a part of Arvest in Benton County.”

Rivaldo began his career with Arvest as a trainee with McIlroy Bank in Fayetteville (now Arvest Bank, Fayetteville) in 1987. In 1999 he was one of the original associates who started Arvest’s Fort Smith operations from the ground up. In 2010 he was named president and CEO in Fort Smith – one of Arvest’s top-performing banks over the past few years.

“I am very excited and humbled to be given the opportunity to join an incredibly strong team in Benton County. It is truly an honor to join the bank where this company was founded and to have the chance to serve these great communities and customers.”

Craig Rivaldo

Arvest Bank of Benton County is the largest of Arvest’s 16 locally managed banks and has 28 locations in 13 communities and more than 400 employees.

Rivaldo is a graduate of Northside High School in Fort Smith, Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University and the National Commercial Lending School at the University of Oklahoma. He and his wife, Mary Jo, have one son, Connor.

A search for a new president in Fort Smith will begin immediately and an announcement will be made when a replacement is selected.