Veteran Arvest Banker Promoted to Arkansas Regional Position
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Don Walker has been promoted to regional executive of Arvest Bank and will assist a group of Arvest banks throughout Arkansas. In this role he will work closely with management teams and boards of directors in overseeing expansion opportunities, business plan execution, asset quality and budgeting. He will also be responsible for federal governmental relations for Arvest. Walker will be returning to Northwest Arkansas, where he grew up and began his banking career.
Walker has previously served as a market president for Arvest in Siloam Springs, Bentonville and Tulsa, Okla. He has been in Tulsa since 1998. The Arvest Tulsa market has 39 branches and $2.1 billion in assets.
Walker, who has been with Arvest for 37 years, began his career with the bank as loan officer in 1978 in Bentonville after graduating from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
“Don’s 30 years of exemplary service and experience as a bank president in three of our markets gives him unique insight and expertise that will prove invaluable to the local banks that he will be serving.”
Kevin Sabin, Arvest Bank CEO
Speaking of his move back to Arkansas after 16 years in Tulsa, Walker said, “While I grew to love Tulsa as my home, the fact that my family and my wife’s family live in Northwest Arkansas made this opportunity very special to me. I’m especially excited to be returning and living in the same city as my daughter, her husband and my 4-year old grandson. The thought of getting to spend more time with him during his formative years made this impossible to pass up.”
Walker served on the board of trustees at John Brown University in Siloam Springs for 18 years, including time as chairman. While in Tulsa, his community involvement included serving as chairman of the Tulsa Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Tulsa Area United Way, River Parks Authority, Indian Nations Council – Boy Scouts of America, Oklahoma Business Roundtable, Morningcrest Foundation, Downtown Tulsa Unlimited and the 2007 Oklahoma Centennial Committee. Walker also served on the boards of the Oklahoma Bankers Association, Hillcrest Medical Center and the Tulsa Community College Foundation.
Don and his wife, Sheroll, have one adult daughter, Jessica Walker Nohl; a son-in-law, Brent Nohl; and a 4-year-old grandson, Walker.