Thomas “Hunter” Deweese has been tapped to serve as the Small Business Administration (SBA) president for Southern Bancorp. Most recently, Deweese served as the senior SBA agricultural lending officer for Southern Bancorp, a Community Development Financial Institution.
He joined Southern Bancorp in 2017, where he has aided in the development of the bank’s SBA poultry loan program.
“We are excited to have Hunter serve in this new role, and we look forward to the economic impact the SBA lending team will have on small businesses and communities under his leadership,” Southern Bancorp, Inc. CEO Darrin Williams said in a statement. “On behalf of the entire Southern team, I also want to thank Randy Ratcliff for his leadership in growing this highly impactful segment of our organization, and his ongoing commitment to mentorship. His legacy of supporting thousands of small businesses, from poultry farmers to Paycheck Protection Program participants, is one of long-lasting impact, and we are grateful to him for guiding those efforts and continuing to mentor the next generation of SBA lenders serving the Mid-South and beyond.”
Deweese is a Fayetteville native and graduated from the University of Arkansas in 2005. Before joining Southern Bancorp, he worked in lending.
He succeeds Randy Ratcliff as the head of Southern Bancorp’s SBA team. Ratcliff led the SBA team since 2017 and, as of Jan. 1, 2021, has shifted to an advisory role.
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