After nearly 14 years directing day-to-day affairs at CrossFirst Bank in Leawood, Kansas, Mike Maddox is shifting his focus.
Maddox, who will continue to serve as president and CEO of the $5.5 billion-asset CrossFirst Bankshares and CEO of CrossFirst Bank, is ceding the job of bank president to Randy Rapp, CrossFirst’s chief risk and chief credit officer since March 2019.
Maddox had served as president and CEO of CrossFirst bank since November 2008. He succeeded George Jones as CrossFirst Bankshares’ president and CEO in 2020.
Rapp’s promotion offers the chance to focus more intently on long-term strategic planning “and address the unique opportunities and challenges of the rapidly-evolving banking landscape,” Maddox said Thursday in a press release. “It’s a tribute to the Bank’s growth over the last 15 years.”
Rapp will manage sales and business development, technology and infrastructure, and the operational business lines of the bank while retaining oversight of credit and risk management.
Rapp’s new role, announced Thursday, “reflects the careful thought of our Board of Directors regarding the future leadership of our company as we position the Bank for future growth,” Maddox said. “The Board and I are committed to scaling our organization with experienced executives who support and execute on our strategic initiatives.”
CrossFirst was able to navigate the coronavirus pandemic and attendant economic dislocation with relatively modest disruption, a fact Maddox highlighted. “Randy has made significant contributions to our credit practices leading to improvements in the quality of our loan portfolio and financial performance,” he said.
Indeed, after peaking at 1.49% of total assets in the third quarter of 2020, CrossFirst’s nonperforming assets have dropped to 0.64% as of March 31, 2022. Classified assets, which reached $299.9 million in the third quarter of 2020, have declined steadily since, falling to $73.3 million at the end of the first quarter.
Rapp’s promotion is CrossFirst’s second senior executive personnel move this year involving an alumnus of Dallas-based Texas Capital Bancshares. In January, CrossFirst hired
Rapp, who joined Texas Capital in 2000, served as the company’s chief credit officer from May 2015 to March 2019. During his two decades at Texas Capital, Rapp worked with Jones, who helped found that company in 1998 and served as its president and CEO from 2008 to 2013.
Jones joined CrossFirst in 2016, leading its expansion into Dallas. He led CrossFirst as president CEO from May 2018 to June 2020 and was serving as vice chairman at the time of his death in May 2021.
