Bank of America taps Arnold native as president for Cape branch

At age 30, the new president of Bank of America in Cape Girardeau is nearly 15 years younger than his predecessor and has half the experience. But Randy Russell doesn't see any of that as an issue.

"They told me I was pretty young to take over the bank in Arnold, too," he said Monday from his new office at the bank's William Street branch. "But it was very successful. With this job, I hope they were looking at my track record. I'm just appreciative of the opportunity."

Russell is coming to the Bank of America from the office in Arnold, Mo., and will replace Steve Taylor as bank president for the Cape Girardeau market. Taylor left his position to help start a First Missouri State Bank branch here.

Russell officially takes over Sept. 16 and is in the process of moving his family -- wife, Heather, a registered nurse, and their three children -- to Cape Girardeau as well as getting his office in order.

David Warning, a Bank of America senior vice president responsible for St. Louis, central and southern Illinois, and Cape Girardeau, said that age was not a factor in their decision to hire Russell.

"We were looking for a strong leader," Warning said. "Randy has a history of building strong teams, he's customer focused and has the experience to do the job. That's why Randy was picked."

Russell has been in banking about 10 years, working as a credit analyst for Commerce Bank, among other things, before joining Bank of America. Russell said he was glad to be coming to Cape Girardeau.

"This is a fantastic market," he said. "It's a community market, which fits what I like to do."

Taylor said he was leaving Bank of America to get away from big banking and back to "community-style banking." But Russell said Bank of America is still close to the community.

"I believe that taking care of the relationship first is the most important thing," he said. "If you do that, all of the other chips will fall into place."

Russell attended Missouri Baptist College west of St. Louis, where he achieved degrees in finance, accounting and business management.

smoyers@semissourian.com

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