Farmers & Merchants State Bank announced the appointment of Eric Faust as the Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer (CRO). F&M also announced Benét Rupp, Chief Administrative Officer, has been promoted to Executive Vice President.
Lars Eller, President and CEO, stated, “We remain focused on building, developing and retaining a team of highly motivated, skilled, and committed people and we are pleased to welcome Eric to our executive team. Eric’s proven track record and experience managing finance, IT, compliance, and enterprise risk management functions will add immediate value to F&M.”
As CRO, Faust will serve on the executive team and be responsible for the Company’s enterprise and regulatory risk management functions. Faust has held multiple roles within the banking industry and most recently held the position of First Vice President, Director of Risk Management at Northstar Financial Group in Wyoming, MI. He was previously an Examination Manager for the State of Michigan, Department of Insurance and Financial Services. Faust has an MBA from Davenport University and a BS in Business Administration from Central Michigan University.
Rupp has been promoted to EVP. Since joining the Company in 2019, Rupp has been an instrumental member of the executive team leading a strategy aligned with F&M’s vision, mission and values. In June 2022, Rupp was promoted to Chief Administrative Officer, managing F&M’s operations, HR, strategic planning, and product development functions. Rupp joined F&M in 2019 as Chief People Officer and has over 32 years of HR, consulting and progressive leadership experience. She has an MBA from The University of Toledo and a BS in I/O Psychology from Bowling Green State University.
Eller said, “I am happy to announce the promotion of Benét Rupp to Executive Vice President/Chief Administrative Officer. Benét’s experience with and dedication to F&M has been exemplary. This marks Benét’s second promotion in less than a year and I am extremely proud of her increasing leadership within F&M.”