Farmers & Merchants State Bank appointed Eric Faust senior vice president and chief risk officer. F&M also promoted Benét Rupp, the company’s chief administrative officer, to executive vice president.

“We remain focused on building, developing, and retaining a team of highly motivated, skilled and committed people and we are pleased to welcome Eric to our executive team,” Lars Eller, president and CEO at F&M, said. “Eric’s proven track record and experience managing finance, IT, compliance and enterprise risk management functions will add immediate value to F&M.”

In this role, Faust will serve on the executive team and be responsible for the company’s enterprise and regulatory risk management functions. Faust has held multiple roles within the banking industry and most recently held the position of first vice president, director of risk management at Northstar Financial Group in Wyoming, MI. He was previously an examination manager for the State of Michigan, Department of Insurance and Financial Services.

F&M’s chief administrative officer Benét Rupp has been promoted to executive vice president. Rupp has been an instrumental member of the company’s executive team leading a strategy aligned with F&M’s vision, mission and values. In June 2022, Rupp was promoted to chief administrative officer, managing F&M’s operations, HR, strategic planning and product development functions. Rupp has more than 32 years of HR, consulting and progressive leadership experience.

“I am happy to announce the promotion of Benét Rupp to executive vice president/chief administrative officer,” Eller said. “Benét’s experience with and dedication to F&M has been exemplary. This marks Benét’s second promotion in less than a year and I am extremely proud of her increasing leadership within F&M.”