Huntington Bank appointed Peter Arendt managing director, food and agribusiness banking. Arendt will lead the development and expansion of Huntington’s commercial banking initiative serving businesses engaged in the production, processing and distribution of food and agricultural products across Huntington’s markets and beyond.

Arendt joins Huntington from Bank of Oklahoma where he successfully built a broad-based food, agriculture and related commodities business for BOK Financial. Prior to Bank of Oklahoma, he managed development of Wells Fargo’s food and agribusiness in the Eastern U.S.

“Peter has a long and successful history positioning food and agriculture businesses for growth,” said Richard Remiker, executive vice president and senior managing director of specialty banking at Huntington. “Over the last three years, we have seen the need for increased expertise to help drive cross sell and additional customer acquisition. Peter is intimately familiar with mitigating commodity risk, challenges surrounding food safety and the need for increased capital in today’s environment.”

Food and agribusiness accounts for nearly 20 percent of jobs nationally, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the bulk of which is even more concentrated across Huntington’s markets as a major portion of overall Midwest economic activity.

Serving an industry faced with increasingly volatile commodities prices, changing consumer preferences, and increased expense associated with food safety, Arendt will build out a team with extensive experience in providing increased capital and delivering risk management solutions that protect margins.

“Right now there’s a need for superior financial expertise in what continues to be a dynamic and changing industry,” said Arendt. “Managing risk is paramount, as is the ability to anticipate and manage trade and currency issues. These are major areas of focus at Huntington.”

Arendt earned his master’s degree in business and administration and bachelor’s degree in agriculture economics from Northwest Missouri State University.