Equity Bancshares, Inc., the Wichita, KS-based holding company of Equity Bank, announced Chief Operating Officer Gregory H. Kossover has communicated his resignation from his Equity Bank role, and his retirement from banking. Kossover will continue serving on the Board of Directors of the Company and will remain a member of the Risk Committee of the Company and Loan Committee of Equity Bank.
Brad S. Elliott, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Equity, said, “Greg has served our company extremely well in many roles, and we look forward to him continuing his responsibilities as a Director. He first joined us as a Director, then ably began serving as our Chief Financial Officer in 2013, as we prepared for and made the transition to a public company, with our IPO occurring in November 2015. After seven years as CFO, Greg assumed his current duties of Chief Operating Officer, and he has been instrumental to our success as we have transitioned into a new phase of growth for our Company. In the past three years we have added highly competent leaders in the roles of Chief Financial Officer, Chief Credit Officer, General Counsel, and Chief Risk Officer. Greg’s experience and banking acumen helped me, and our Company, onboard and welcome new executives and prepare our Bank for the next phase of growth.”
Kossover’s tenure with Equity includes the company’s growth from just over $1 billion of assets to its current franchise of 66 bank locations and over $5 billion of assets across Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
“It has been the capstone of my banking career to be involved with Brad, with Julie Huber, our Executive Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, and all the team members of Equity Bank,” Kossover said. “This team works hard every day to add value to our stakeholders, and it shows in the remarkable but responsible growth Equity Bank has achieved in 20 years.
“As a steadfast shareholder, I am excited for the future and hope to add value as I continue my service as a member of the Equity Board of Directors.”