Senior Management
Larry R. Doyle, Chief Executive Officer
Larry Doyle was named chief executive officer of the Farm Credit Bank of Texas in March 2003.
Prior to becoming CEO, he was executive vice president and chief operating officer of AgFirst Farm Credit Bank in Columbia, S.C.
Doyle began his Farm Credit career in 1975 as a loan officer for Orangeburg Production Credit Association in Orangeburg, S.C., and was later promoted to vice president and branch manager. In 1979 he became assistant general manager of Tri-County Electric Cooperative in St. Matthews, S.C. Doyle rejoined the Farm Credit System in 1980, when he was hired by the Columbia Bank for Cooperatives as a business development and credit officer responsible for agribusiness and utility lending. In 1986, he was promoted to vice president and treasurer of the Farm Credit Bank of Columbia, which merged in 1995 to become AgFirst Farm Credit Bank. He was named the bank's senior vice president for lending and treasury in 1996.
Doyle currently serves on the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation Board of Directors.
Doyle earned his bachelor of science degree in business administration, banking and finance, and his MBA in finance from the University of South Carolina, Columbia. He is a native of Horry County, S.C., where he retains the family farm on which he was raised.
Kurt Thomas, Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer
Kurt Thomas, a 29-year veteran of Farm Credit, is senior vice president and chief credit officer of the Farm Credit Bank of Texas. He is responsible for the bank’s Credit Division, which includes capital markets, association direct lending, credit operations and risk management.
Previously, Thomas was vice president and unit manager of the bank’s Association Direct Lending Group. Since joining the bank in 1981, he has held the positions of financial analyst, credit specialist, senior loan officer, regional vice president and vice president of credit and operations. He also has held interim management assignments at two Production Credit Associations. Before starting his Farm Credit career, he was a regional manager with Old Republic, where he worked with commercial clients in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S.
As a member of the bank’s senior management team, Thomas represents the Texas Farm Credit District on the Farm Credit System’s Captive Insurance Board of Governors.
Thomas earned his bachelor’s degree in agribusiness from Southwest Texas State University, now known as Texas State University. A native of Eagle Lake, Texas, he was involved with his family’s cattle and rice farming operation before joining the bank. He is a partner in a family ranching operation in Mason County, Texas.
Kyle Pankonien, Senior Vice President, General Counsel
Kyle Pankonien is senior vice president of corporate affairs, general counsel and corporate secretary for the Farm Credit Bank of Texas. He also has responsibility for the legal and human resources functions of the bank.
Previously, Pankonien was the bank’s deputy general counsel from 1990 through 2007. He began his career with the Farm Credit System in 1978, when he joined the legal department of the Federal Land Bank in Houston, where he provided counsel and expertise in the legal aspects of lending, loan servicing and loan processing.
A native of Houston, he is a graduate of Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas Law School. He is a Fellow in the Texas Bar Foundation.
Amie Pala, Chief Financial Officer
Amie Pala was named chief financial officer of the Farm Credit Bank of Texas in 2010. Prior to her appointment, she was vice president of financial management, and was responsible for the oversight of the bank’s finance functions. These functions included interest rate risk management, investments, debt, derivatives, financial planning, loan pricing, financial reporting and accounting.
Pala joined the bank in 1987 as the asset and liability manager and was promoted to vice president in 1995. Before joining the bank, she worked for American Express and First City National Bank.
She holds a bachelor of business administration degree in finance from the University of Texas and an MBA from St. Edward’s University.
Allen Buckner, Chief Operations Officer
A longtime Farm Credit veteran, Allen Buckner is the chief operations officer of the Farm Credit Bank of Texas. In this position, he is responsible for overseeing information technology and loan operations. Previously, as vice president of lending systems, he led the implementation of a new districtwide lending systems information program.
Buckner began his Farm Credit career in 1981 as a loan officer with Piedmont Farm Credit Services in Monroe, N.C. He later served as a branch manager at Southeast Georgia Farm Credit Services in Blackshear, Ga., and as a credit officer at AgFirst Farm Credit Bank, before moving to Palmetto Farm Credit, ACA in 1991.
He joined the Farm Credit Bank of Texas as an association relationship manager in July 2003, and left to serve as chief executive officer of Heritage Land Bank, ACA in January, 2006. He returned to the Farm Credit Bank of Texas in late 2006.
A native of Mars Hill, N.C., Buckner was reared on his family’s farming and Hereford cattle operation. He earned a biology degree from Mars Hill College, took business courses at the University of South Carolina, and graduated with an MBA from Clemson University.
Stan Ray, Chief Administrative Officer
Stan Ray is chief administrative officer for the Farm Credit Bank of Texas. In this role, he oversees the bank’s marketing, communications, event coordination, government relations and administrative services teams. Previously, Ray was vice president of marketing and corporate relations. He joined the bank in 1995 as vice president of legislative affairs.
Prior to his Farm Credit employment, Ray worked in Washington, D.C., as legislative assistant to a U.S. congressman. He went on to hold the position of staff director for two different congressional subcommittees in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Ray is president of the Texas District Farm Credit Council, chairman of the Grow Texas Foundation, and a board member of the Texas FFA Foundation and the Texas Agricultural Cooperative Council. He also is a governor appointee to the board of the Texas Agricultural Finance Authority. In addition, he represents the Texas Farm Credit District on the Systemwide Reputation Management Workgroup and the Farm Credit Benefits Alliance Plan Sponsor Committee.
Ray grew up on a ranch in West Texas and graduated from Texas Tech University with a degree in agricultural education. While working in Washington, he earned his master’s degree in international transactions from George Mason University and studied abroad at the University of Oxford. Currently, he is pursuing an MBA from Baylor University.