Corey Williams

THREE RIVERS AREA — Corey Wiliams was just a first-grader when he told his parents he wanted to be a banker. Now, the 37-year-old is division chief lending officer for Centennial Bank in Cabot.

“I’ve always been able to do well in math, but I didn’t want to be in a backroom with numbers; I wanted to deal with people,” Williams said.

And deal with people, he does. In addition to tending to his banking clients, Williams serves as the Cabot Chamber of Commerce Board president and vice president of the Cabot School Board. He is a member of the Cabot Panther Foundation, the Cabot Rotary Club and the Mount Carmel Baptist Church finance team. Williams also coaches youth soccer and basketball in his spare time.

“Corey has always been a leader in the community and a leader at our bank,” said Tracy French, regional president for Centennial Bank.

Growing up in Cherry Valley, Williams said he was always competitive. In fact he graduated valedictorian of his high school class not because he was the smartest kid, he said, but because he was determined to do his best.

“He does play to win,” French said with a laugh. “ He’sone of the sharpest bankers I’ve been able to work with over the years.”

Williams graduated from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro in 1997 and went directly into the Nations Bank training program to learn the retail side of banking. He soon became a branch manager in Little Rock. He andhis wife, Amy, moved to Cabot in 1999, and Williams took over a branch manager’s position for Centennial Bank. Although Williams is now over lending officers in Searcy, Beebe, Cabot, Ward and Jacksonville, he still maintains apersonal relationship with his own clients.

Williams said he is blessed to work in the same town in which he lives. He is able to watch the community grow and said he believes he’s had a small part in that. He also believes in building relationships.

“I still make loans, and I’m still able to deal with my customers,” he said. “That’s the great thing about it, … working with people who have an idea for something and watching that idea grow into a product or service. They bring in a business plan, and we work together to make that happen.”

Cabot Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Billye Everett said Williams is difficult to define.

“First and foremost, he is a family man,” she said. “Also, he is a man of many talents who willingly shares those talents with his community. He is a man of few words; however, when he speaks, you listen.”

The youngest of four boys and the son of factory workers, Williams mapped out his life early.

“The Delta obviously doesn’t offer a lot of opportunity, and if you’re not in farming or education, it’s tough,” he said.

But the work ethic his parents instilled in him has carried him through. He worked 25 to 30 hours at a grocery store while he was in high school, and he played baseball and basketball.

“I’m a sports person,” he said. “I think sports and extracurricular activities teach kids real-life lessons. You can’t win every time, but you want to do the best you can.”

Williams believes people should give 100 percent to a job, hobby or whatever they decide to do.

He said he agrees with the well-known quote, “It’s not whether you win or lose; it’s how you play the game,” but he said he also believes, “If you’re going to play the game, why not try to win?”

Williams said he believes a game can be won by playing fair.

He put a spin on another common quote to make it fit his philosophy that if one is happy, he’ll be successful in whatever he decides to do.

“‘Success is the key to happiness’ is a common quote, but I really think happiness is the key to success,” Williams said.

Williams uses that comparison when he talks to students, and he also tells them they can be anything they want to be.

“Even though he has a lot of responsibility at his job, he manages to give back much to his community,” Everett said of Williams. “He has provided positive leadership to the chamber, serving as a director and this year as president. The chamber of commerce has benefited greatly from his leadership and involvement. Even though his table is pretty full, he always makes time to provide direction and leadership to the chamber and its staff. I have benefited greatly from working with him.”

Although Williams has a full schedule, he has recently been approved to become a wish-granter for the Make-AWish Foundation and is preparing to go through the training process required. As hisyear ends as president of the chamber board, he will replace the time he spent there helping make wishes come true.

“A wish-granter is the person who works with the child and the family and the Make-A-Wish Foundation to help make that wish come true,” Williams said.

Making wishes come true will just be one other way Williams continues to build relationships throughout his community.

“In my opinion, four words best describe Corey Williams: dedicated, intelligent, kind and caring,” Everett said.

Staff writer Jeanni Brosius can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or jbrosius@arkansasonline.com.

up close

getting to know Corey Williams

Birth date: Jan. 31, 1974

Birthplace: Wynne

Occupation: Banker

Biggest personal influence: My parents, for

instilling in me the principles of hard work and

doing the best I can do

Biggest professional influence: Tracy French

taught me the most of what I know about

banking.

Something most people don’t know: When

I play golf, which I don’t play too often anymore,

I play right-handed, but I putt left-handed. It’s

usually six or seven holes before people realize

what I am doing.