Enterprise Financial Services named James B. Lally as its new CEO and board member to succeed Peter F. Benoist. The transition will take place at the annual shareholders meeting on May 2, 2017.

Lally was named president of the company in August 2016. At the same time, Benoist entered into a retirement and consulting agreement to take effect upon the appointment of his successor. To ensure a seamless transition, Benoist will provide consulting services to the company through the end of 2017.

“Succession planning is a continuous board responsibility and we’ve been intensively engaged in the process as we prepared for Peter’s retirement,” said John Eulich, non-executive board chairman.

“Jim is absolutely the right person to take the company to its next level of success,” Benoist said. “He’s a proven leader who has rapidly risen through successive executive posts at Enterprise, producing strong results and developing effective teams along the way. He’ll be a terrific CEO.”

Lally joined Enterprise in 2003 as senior vice president and was named president of the bank’s Clayton unit in 2008. In 2011, he was appointed president of the St. Louis region and three years later assumed responsibility for commercial banking in all regions. Prior to Enterprise, Lally served in various commercial banking roles for US Bank and Commerce Bank in St. Louis.

Enterprise Financial Services, with approximately $4.1 billion in assets, is a bank holding company headquartered in Clayton, MO.