Farmers and Merchants in Md. names next CEO

Farmers and Merchants Bancshares in Hampstead, Md., has found a successor for its retiring CEO.

The $718 million-asset company said in a press release Tuesday that Gary Harris will become its president on July 1. He will succeed James Bosley Jr. as CEO at the end of this year. 

Farmers and Merchants worked with Kaplan Partners, a Philadelphia executive recruitment firm, on the search process, which evaluated bankers from Boston to Atlanta. 

Harris joined the company in 2008. He has been its chief lending officer since 2021. 

“After a thorough search, the board is very confident in its selection of Gary Harris as our next president,” Bruce Schindler, the company’s chairman, said in the release. 

Harris “has demonstrated strong leadership qualities along with being a top producer for the bank for many years,” Schindler added. “The board looks forward to working with him.”