Peter Bennis honored for 30 years with Pinnacle Bank
June 18,2015
Reposted from Keene Star
By PAUL GNADT
Family, friends, colleagues and many longtime customers filled the Keene branch of Pinnacle Bank June 4 for a come-and-go reception celebrating the 30 year anniversary of President and CEO Peter G. Bennis with the bank.
Bennis thanked his wife, Carolyn, for her support, his longtime colleague Janet Goodman for her dedication and Ray Nichols, owner of First State Bank, the forerunner to Pinnacle Bank, for giving Bennis an opportunity three decades ago.
Bennis, who grew up in Graham, attended Texas State University in San Marcos from 1980-84 and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree, concentrating in accounting.
After graduation, he began his career at First City Bancorp as an internal auditor in May of 1984.
From there, he was offered an officer position as cashier with First State Bank Texas, chartered in Keene, where he began June 4, 1985.
In January of 1989, Bennis became president of the bank. He received a graduate degree in banking from Southwest Graduate School of Banking, Cox School of Business, SMU, in 1991.
In 1993, Bennis was one of 25 people who met at the old Keene Diner to form the Keene Chamber of Commerce and served as its first president.
Bennis opened a loan production office for Pinnacle Bank at Two City Place in downtown Fort Worth in September of 2010.
Excitement is growing in anticipation of the opening of Pinnacle Bank Place, a five-story development on Lancaster Avenue in downtown Fort Worth planned for completion next year.
The first level of the multi-use building will house a full-service branch.
Bennis has played a large part in the success and strength of the Texas charter. Pinnacle Bancorp, Inc. acquired First Bank Azle effective Sept. 2, 2008, and today all 12 Pinnacle locations in Texas are under his oversight.
Bennis and his wife, Carolyn, have two grown children, a son and a daughter, as well as an 8-year-old grandson.
He enjoys the oil and gas industry and has studied the exploration side of that business.
Longtime Keene resident Clem Hobbs, left, visits with former Keene First State Bank owner Ray Nichols during the June 4 reception for Peter Bennis. As a drillinginfor.com subscriber, he enjoys studying the new oil and gas plays throughout Texas and other parts of the country.