Barry Orr, who founded FirstBank & Trust of Texas in Lubbock a quarter-century ago, plans to retire as CEO at the end of March.
Greg Garland, who has been the bank's president since 2003, will succeed Orr, who sold the bank to Heartland Financial USA in Dubuque, Iowa, in May 2018. Orr will remain FirstBank's chairman.
Orr began his banking career in 1976 — two years before he graduated from Texas Tech University — at First Republic Bank. He moved to crosstown rival Lubbock National Bank, serving 12 years as a senior vice president before forming FirstBank with $10 million in 1996.
Orr also created PrimeWest Mortgage, which operated as a division of the bank.
With 32 branches, FirstBank is the biggest of the $17.9 billion-asset Heartland’s 11 bank units.
“Barry’s accomplishments go far beyond the balance sheet,” Heartland President and CEO Bruce Lee said in a Thursday press release. “His leadership and the impact he’s had on the people he’s worked with and the customers he’s served truly distinguishes him.”
In addition to his work at FirstBank, Orr is chairman of the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance. He was added to Heartland’s board in July 2019.
“Over the last 25 years, to have had the opportunity to lead the people who make FirstBank & Trust what it is has been the most rewarding experience of my life,” Orr said in the release.
