Ledbetter Will Chair St. Bernards Foundation Board

Banker elected to volunteer leadership position on Foundation Board

Barry Ledbetter

Jonesboro, Ark., February, 2006 - Barry Ledbetter, president and chief executive officer of Simmons First Bank of Jonesboro, has been elected chairman of the St. Bernards Development Foundation Board of Directors.

Ledbetter, who has served in leadership roles in civic activities for many years, has been a member of the Foundation board for nine years. He holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Arkansas State University and is a graduate of Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University.

He has been with Simmons First Bank since 1987 and was promoted to president and chief executive officer of the Jonesboro bank in 1998. He has been an active member of the Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce, Jonesboro Unlimited, Jonesboro Industrial Development Corporation and the Arkansas State University Assist Club. In addition, he serves on the board of directors of the McAdams/Frierson Chair of Bank Management at ASU

The banker also serves on the Arkansas Bankers Association Board of Directors and is a member of the St. Bernards Healthcare Governing Board. He and his wife, Kitty, have two daughters and are members of Central Baptist Church.

The St. Bernards Development Foundation is a charitable organization established in 1983 to help raise funds that are dedicated to keeping St. Bernards Medical facilities at the forefront of technologies and services. It accepts philanthropic gifts for St. Bernards Healthcare and uses funds to sustain St. Bernards programs and to help fund state-of-the-art medical technologies. It supports the medical center’s mission of providing Christ-like healing to the community through education, treatment and health services and is governed by a board of 15 community leaders.