Former chamber exec joins Arvest Bank

Ryan Mooney, a former longtime executive of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce who exited late last year, has a new job at Arvest Bank.

Mooney started this week as vice president of economic development-commercial banking for Arvest's Springfield market, according to a news release. Most recently the chamber's vice president of economic development, he left the organization in November after more than two decades.

Reached this morning, Mooney said, "Moving to the private sector was a significant consideration for me."

He added, "After 23 years of working in economic development, I felt like I wanted to look for new opportunities for my career but still focus on my passion for Springfield and utilize my expertise in helping companies access tools to grow and expand."

Mooney additionally pointed to Arvest's hiring late last year of fellow economic development professional Andrea Sitzes, former president and CEO of the Show Me Christian County organization.

"As she considered her decision to move to Arvest and when bank leaders approached me late last year, I was really excited to see their innovative approach to how they do business," Mooney said. "They felt like my economic development approach to business growth and real estate projects would work well in commercial banking."

A certified economic and community developer, Mooney will be responsible at Arvest for growing commercial banking relationships and using the bank's products and services to help clients plan commercial real estate projects, according to the release.

“Ryan brings a valuable skill set and background in economic development with him, and he will be a wealth of knowledge for Springfield business owners," said Jason England, executive vice president and loan manager at Arvest Bank in Springfield, in the release. "Arvest is committed to hiring excellent business professionals to serve our customers, and Ryan is another great addition to our commercial banking team.”

The Springfield chamber is continuing to search for a new senior vice president of economic development, a process that's "proceeding on schedule," said chamber spokesperson Jennifer McClure.

When disclosing Mooney’s exit last year, the chamber additionally announced two interim appointments: Mary Lilly Smith as interim vice president of economic development and Jeff Seifried as interim senior project manager.