TUPELO, Miss., Sept. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- BancorpSouth,
Inc. (NYSE: BXS) has announced the retirement of BancorpSouth
Senior Executive Vice President Gordon
Lewis, effective December 12,
2014. Lewis currently reports to the Company's President and
Chief Operating Officer with senior management responsibilities for
BancorpSouth's Business Development Team.
Lewis joined BancorpSouth in conjunction with the merger of
First United Bancshares into BancorpSouth in 2000 where he was the
Regional Chairman responsible for First United's banks in
Texas and Louisiana. Lewis
also served as Chairman, President and CEO of Fredonia State Bank in Nacogdoches, Texas as part of the First United
Bancshares senior management team. During the merger and
operational integration of BancorpSouth and First United, Lewis
played a key role in the successful transition period.
Following the merger, Lewis continued to have senior management
responsibilities for BancorpSouth's Texas and Louisiana region. In 2008 he was promoted to
Vice Chairman of the Company's Community Bank Division, assuming
management responsibilities for all BancorpSouth community bank
locations throughout its eight-state footprint.
BancorpSouth Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dan Rollins, commenting on Lewis' pending
retirement said, "We thank Gordon for his valued leadership and
wise counsel to our team over the past fourteen years. Our Company
has benefited tremendously from Gordon's values, character and
business acumen, and we owe him a great deal of
gratitude."
Chris Bagley, BancorpSouth's
President and Chief Operating Officer added, "Gordon's in-depth
knowledge of our markets and his wise and steady counsel to our
bankers have contributed significantly to our Company's success
over the past fourteen years."
Gordon Lewis' management
responsibilities will be distributed among several BancorpSouth
executives. Chris Bagley,
President and Chief Operating Officer, will coordinate the
transition of duties with James
Threadgill, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief
Business Development Officer. Day to day management
responsibilities will be assumed by Greg
Ray, Executive Vice President & Chief Banking Officer;
and Tommy Darnell, Executive Vice
President & Chief Sales Officer.
James Threadgill, a member of the Company's seven person
Executive Management Committee, will assume responsibility for all
Business Development activity of the company including all product
lines and business units. James reports directly to the
President and Chief Operating Officer.
Greg Ray will assume the majority
of Mr. Lewis' day to day management responsibilities. In his
position of Executive Vice President & Chief Banking Officer,
Greg will lead the Company's efforts to enhance product sales and
improve customer service while standardizing processes to increase
efficiency across the Company's community bank locations.
Tommy Darnell will be relocating
to Tupelo to assume his new role
as Executive Vice President & Chief Sales Officer responsible
for the Community Bank system's retail and commercial loan, deposit
and fee income production.
BancorpSouth, Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered
in Tupelo, Mississippi, with
approximately $13.0 billion in
assets. BancorpSouth Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
BancorpSouth, Inc., operates approximately 300 commercial banking,
mortgage, and insurance locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas, including an insurance location in
Illinois.
SOURCE BancorpSouth, Inc.