By age 20, Tara Deavours had become Wells Fargo’s youngest branch manager in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. She began at a small branch in Denton, Texas, which was acquired by the multinational financial services company.
“I’m pretty proud of that,” the Lawton Eisenhower grad told Southwest Ledger in 2020.
Her knowledge in the banking industry led Deavours to leadership roles with Bank One, the then sixth-largest bank in the United States. In 2004, Bank One merged with JP Morgan Chase & Co. Deavours remained with the company until 2007 when her heart called her back across the Red River to her hometown. That year Deavours’ career really took off, she said. Beginning as assistant manager of Arvest Bank’s 27th and Gore location, within 12 months she was promoted to branch manager.
Fast-forward a few years to 2012 when Deavours became Fort Sill branch manager for Navy Federal Credit Union. She then transferred to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Although she traveled the East Coast extensively with Navy Federal, Deavours was able to earn her bachelor’s degree in business management from Columbia College. Once again, her heart called her home. In 2018, she returned.
“Lawton has been my home, off and on, since 1985, when my father came to the area to join his brother at the Lawton Goodyear Tire & Rubber factory,” she said. “The people who make up the Lawton-Fort Sill community welcomed me back without reservation. They are also the reason I choose to stay in Lawton.”
As BancFirst’s assistant vice president and commercial loan officer, Deavours consults business owners. Focusing on small businesses and her innate ability to create strong working relationships, Deavours consults with business owners and entrepreneurs to identify their needs to determine whether funding comes from the bank or through the Small Business Administration.
“That’s really my niche,” she said. “I do SBA loans and help business owners grow and expand utilizing SBA versus not being able to get a bank loan for their businesses.
Deavours is an economic development advocate for Lawton. She works closely with Lawton Economic Development Corp. and Oklahoma Southwest Alliance. LEDC’s website states that it offers resources “and assistance that simplify business creation and support expansion.” OSA joins communities across the region to “improve quality of life by identifying opportunities for sustainable economic growth, diversification, and stabilization,” the organization’s website states.
“I want to go out of my way to make sure we have these opportunities to come back to Lawton,” she said. “I’m an advocate for economic development and growth for Southwest Oklahoma, specifically Lawton.”
Deavours continues to lend her support to multiple organizations in the Lawton-Fort Sill community. In addition to being past chairperson for Young Professionals of Lawton, the Leadership Lawton-Fort Sill Class XXI alumna is a board and committee member for Marie Detty Youth & Family Services, Women That Vote Arts Corporation, Lawton Business Women and United Way of Southwest Oklahoma.
“I feel like I need to invest in our community to make it better,” Deavours said in 2020. “I join organizations that give back and have a purpose – that have an investment in the community.”
Deavours also currently serves as president-elect and treasurer for the Greater Lawton Rotary Club. She is looking forward to her year as president, where she plans on expanding the organization’s service projects and bringing more community awareness of Rotary’s global impact that starts right here in Lawton- Fort Sill.
“My impact has got to be for the greater good,” she said.