Personal Bankers of Little Rock: Jennifer Duran
July 7, 2017
Although Jennifer Duran spent the first four years of her life in Barberton, Ohio, she and her family officially became Arkansans in 1973 when her father brought the family here to start up the first seamless gutter company in Little Rock.
Jennifer was the oldest of three sisters and attended what was then known as Southwest Junior High, before graduating from Central High in 1988. While still in High School, Jennifer worked at Madison Guarantee Savings and Loan every day after school. “This was back in the day when paper checks all had to be manually processed,” she says. “My fingers would literally be bleeding by the end of the day!” She also gained retail experience during High School by working for both J.C. Penney’s and for Sears but decided that a career in retail sales wasn’t for her.
After graduating from Central High, Jennifer attended UALR and began working for Union National Bank in Little Rock. She remained at Union National through the sale and conversion to Boatman’s Bank, and then later through another conversation to Bank of America, who eventually closed the branch she was working in. Jennifer moved to Florida and spent three years there but found herself missing her family and living in Arkansas and so, in 1994, she came back home.
Upon her arrival, she got a call from Central Bank asking if she would consider joining their team – which she did. She remained there for four years, starting as a Teller and moving up to the position of Assistant Branch Manager. Members of Central Bank’s executive leadership left to start a new bank – The Capital Bank – and, once established, they asked Jennifer to join them which, again, she did. And for the next 17 years, Jennifer gained much experience and took on responsibilities that eventually included serving as Senior Vice President, Bank Secrecy Officer, I.T. Officer, and I.S.O. (Information Security Officer). And if that wasn’t enough, she also served as the Bank’s Compliance Committee Chairperson.
In 2015, after management changes at The Capital Bank, Jennifer decided she needed a change and a fresh start. She called her longtime friend and Bank of Little Rock Human Resources Manager Mary Jane Lowman to see if she knew of any banks looking for someone with her experience. Mary Jane said, “As a matter of fact, I do – we are!” Jennifer interviewed for the position, accepted the position two days later, and she began working at Bank of Little Rock within two weeks.
Jennifer’s assignment at Bank of Little Rock was (and continues to be) serving as the Bank’s I.S.O. (Information Security Officer), tasked with safeguarding the security of, and protecting, both customers and bank employees from identification theft, scams, and other outside threats. She also stays on top of any new trends which may affect the Bank or its customers. In addition to that, Jennifer is in charge of vendor management for all of the Bank’s service providers, as well as serving as Chairperson of the Bank’s Information Technology Steering Committee.
Jennifer’s husband of 17 years, Michael, works for S.T.I. (Smiley Technologies, Inc.) and so their professional lives have some common ground. At home in Bryant, the two of them are raising their eight-year-old son Jackson who has developed a great love of baseball. Jackson plays for the Bryant Baseball League and Jennifer says, “We’re a great sports family! Our vacation this summer was in Arlington, Texas, where we spent as much time watching the Texas Rangers play as we did at the Six Flags Theme Park.”
Jennifer’s niece Hayden moved in with Jennifer and Michael when she was 11 years old. Now, a decade later, Hayden is set to graduate from the William Bowen School of Law next year, which is a source of great pride for Jennifer.
Early in their relationship, Jennifer and Michael loved “off-roading” adventures in an old Jeep. They’re thinking about getting back into that but most of their outside time is spent on home renovation projects which are keeping them busy.
According to Jennifer, “The thing I love most about Bank of Little Rock is that the entire staff, including senior management, is totally engaged with helping each other and our customers. I didn’t really see that in my previous experiences.” She says her biggest challenge is simply keeping up with and staying informed about all of the new potential threats that continue to crop up in the cyber world.
No question about it, Jennifer is a busy lady. But never too busy to help take care of you and your banking business. If you’re in our Main Branch downtown, we hope you have the opportunity to meet her!