Eagle Bancorp Montana lines up CEO succession

Eagle Bancorp Montana in Helena is promoting an insider to become its next CEO. 

The $1.4 billion-asset company said in a press release Wednesday that Laura Clark will also succeed Peter Johnson as its president. Johnson, who plans to retire on Dec. 31, will remain on the board. 

Clark, Eagle’s chief financial officer and chief operating officer, will become president on April 1 and CEO at the end of the year. 

Johnson “has been a remarkable leader and a highly effective CEO, and we wish him every happiness in his well-deserved retirement as we continue to build on his legacy,” Rick Hays, Eagle’s chairman, said in the release. 

“During his tenure, he has navigated the company through a period of significant change, including over the course of the Great Recession and the global pandemic, and he has fostered a culture that continues to differentiate us in the marketplace,” Hays added. 

Johnson has been president and CEO since 2007, when the company had $240 million of assets. He guided Eagle its second-step initial public offering in 2010 and handled four bank acquisitions. 

Clark joined Eagle in 2014 as CFO. Before joining the company, she was the CFO at Bank of Bozeman.

Miranda Spaulding will succeed Clark as CFO on April 1. She is Eagle’s corporate financial director.