Tucson-based Canyon Community Bank becomes CrossFirst

CrossFirst Bank, based near Kansas City in Leawood, Kansas, announced in April it would acquire and merger with Canyon and its parent Canyon Bancorporation in a deal worth about $15 million in CrossFirst stock and cash.

CrossFirst now operates Canyon’s sole local branch, at 7981 N. Oracle Road, as well as one branch in Phoenix.

Longtime local banker Don Jenks was appointed as CrossFirst market president in Tucson. Kevin Halloran, the bank’s Phoenix market president since 2021, was promoted to regional president for Arizona.

“We are excited to be part of the Tucson community and extremely fortunate to have tenured leadership talent like Don to lead our efforts,” Halloran said in a news release.

Jenks served as executive vice president of the Bank of Tucson from 2008 to 2018, when the bank was acquired by Pacific Premier Bank, and he stayed on there until joining Canyon as executive vice president in 2020.

“The additional resources and banking solutions that we are able to bring to the community of Tucson, delivered by an amazing team of bankers, is exceptional, and I’m happy to be part of it,” Jenks said.

Founded in 2000 with three local branches at one time, Canyon Community Bank had total loans of $122 million and total deposits of $169 million as of March 31, CrossFirst said.

Canyon had strengthened its balance sheet since 2013, when the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency ordered the bank to shore up its capital reserves.

After a majority investment of $9.5 million by a Texas investor group in 2015, Canyon had one of the strongest capital reserves among Arizona banks, and the Comptroller lifted the order in November 2021.

Including the Tucson and Phoenix branches, CrossFirst now operates 17 branches in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

CrossFirst had $7.2 billion in assets as of the end of the third quarter Sept. 30, up from $6.6 billion at the end of 2022. The bank posted adjusted net income of nearly $69 million in 2022 and $16.9 million in the third quarter.

CrossFirst Bank’s holding company, CrossFirst Bankshares Inc., is publicly traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

CrossFirst’s acquisition of Canyon Community Bank leaves one locally-owned bank, Oro Valley-based Commerce Bank of Arizona, which has five offices in the Tucson metro area.