Makris reflects on time at bank

Simmons Bank had begun to expand its footprint throughout six states when George Makris Jr. was tapped as its chairman in 2013.

“Several of us were putting years on pretty quickly,” Makris, 69, said Monday. “When I made my original commitment to the board back in 2013, we talked about a 10-year horizon to build this growth strategy. Quite honestly, I probably stayed a couple of years longer than I thought at the time.”

Simmons leaders also talked about the importance of a succession plan in the past three years, Makris revealed. A big step in that plan was revealed Monday when Simmons announced Makris’ retirement as chairman and CEO of Simmons Bank and its parent company, Simmons First National Corp., at the end of this year.

Simmons announced Jay Brogdon, the corporation and bank’s president, would become the CEO and join the board of directors, and Marty Casteel, director of the corporation and bank, would become chairman of both entities, effective Jan. 1.

“Each individual will know when it’s time to move on,” Makris said. “I just believe it’s time for me to move on and turn the reins over to Jay from a day-to-day operations standpoint and Marty Casteel from a board oversight and leadership perspective. It’s not something it happened overnight, but I take great pride in the way we were able to manage that succession plan because, quite honestly, most people can’t do that.”

Simmons has also established a leadership team in recent years that includes Daniel Hobbs as chief financial officer and Chris Van Steenberg as chief operating officer for the bank.

“We finally got an executive team in our place, along with those folks and our legacy Simmons people,” Makris said. “They needed a little bit of time to work together and get used to each other, and they had that time.”

Makris is a native of Pine Bluff, where Simmons Bank was established in 1903. He was president of MK Distributors, his family’s beer distribution company from 1989 until Simmons tapped him to lead its company.

Interestingly, Makris never worked as a banker, but he had previous experience as a director at Worthen Bank in the 1980s.

“I was a little apprehensive when Dr. (Harry) Ryburn asked me to consider taking (Tommy May’s) place as CEO, but I didn’t have to do any banking business, thank goodness,” Makris said. “My main job was to take what Tommy May and his predecessors have built and come up with a growth strategy for the next 120 years. I think we accomplished that now.”

Simmons Bank now does business in six states including Arkansas. It had already acquired banks in Springfield, Mo.; Sedalia, Mo.; St. Louis; and Olathe, Kan., before Makris took the helm.

Under his watch, Simmons purchased Metropolitan Bank and Delta Trust in Little Rock, returned to the Springfield market to acquire two more banks and picked up others in Tennessee, while also going into Stillwater, Okla., and Fort Worth.

“Quite honestly, I don’t think any of us could have understood the impact that had on our transformation,” Makris said, reflecting on rescuing Metropolitan out of bankruptcy. “It really sort of gave us what we needed to expand through acquisition of other banks.”

In all, Simmons acquired 13 banks under Makris’ leadership.

Simmons also bolstered its brand through sponsorships of sporting events and venues. Simmons purchased naming rights to the former Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium — now Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium — which is undergoing a reported $220 million renovation. The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff will play in the Southern Heritage Classic football game at that venue for the third year in a row on Sept. 27, taking on Alcorn State University.

UAPB’s home field is now known as Simmons Bank Field at Golden Lion Stadium, and the lobby of the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Clinic in Pine Bluff bears Simmons’ name. Simmons also sponsors a tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour, the developmental tour for the PGA Tour, in Nashville, and the Simmons Bank Championship golf tournament held each October at Little Rock’s Pleasant Valley Country Club. The bank was one of five founding sponsors for Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, which opened in 2019.

“Folks are pretty passionate about sports,” said Makris, who played baseball at Washington & Lee University in Virginia and present-day Rhodes College in Memphis before graduating from the latter in 1978. “Simmons likes to link its brand to a common theme. Sports (are) certainly a way to do that. Plus, I didn’t know a thing about ballet, so that was something off the table.”

Heading into retirement, Makris hopes to pass the love of baseball down to his five grandsons and coach them in the little leagues. He and his wife Debbie have three sons: George III, Nick and John, the latter two involved with MK Distributors.

“I’m going to try to help them expand their business a little bit,” Makris said. “My wife told me when I retire I still have to leave home at 8 in the morning and I can’t return home until 5, so I have to find something to do around that time.”