Rich has over 25 years of results driven senior management experience in banking including 12 years in Chairman, CEO and Market President roles. The majority of his career has been in middle market and C&I lending. His breadth of experience spans from business development to workout loans to managing multiple departments as well as all aspects of community bank startup and management. From 1986-1996 Rich worked for Chase Bank of Arizona which was acquired by First Interstate Bank of Arizona and subsequently acquired by Wells Fargo. He was instrumental in successfully turning the bank around from a primary troubled real estate bank to a sound commercial bank resulting in the sale of Chase Bank of AZ for over 2X book. Following the Wells acquisition in 1996, Rich went to work for Norwest Bank where he again was instrumental in building the C&I portfolio. At Norwest, Rich was in charge of all business banking in Metro Phoenix. Following Norwest’s merger with Wells Fargo Bank, Rich went to Compass Bank where he essentially started the commercial operations from scratch. In the 9 years under his direction, the bank grew to one of Compass’s most profitable banks. Rich hired and led a team of commercial bankers to achieve the greatest growth in loans, deposits and profits in the bank’s history. He had full balance sheet and profit/loss responsibility for the Phoenix region. Under Rich’s leadership, the Phoenix market ranked at the top of all 13 Compass major markets. Total assets reached nearly $1 billion before Rich left the bank in 2008 following the acquisition of BBVA. That year he began looking to start a bank. In 2010, he successfully lead the change of control of First Scottsdale Bank. Raising $20MM in capital during the depths of the recession, FSB was one of only 2 banks approved that Rich has always believed strongly in giving back to the community and has been very active in it throughout his career including Chairman of Arizona Special Olympics, Chairman of Future for Kids, board of directors Homeward Bound, Red Cross, finance chair HomeBase Youth Services (homeless youth) and Sheriff’s Advisory Posse (raises money for fallen officers). Rich was founding chairman of the ASU MBA mentorship program. He was also a member of the MBA council and Dean’s Board of Excellence. Other organizations include Young President’s Organization (YPO), Greater Phoenix Leadership (GPL), Phoenix rotary 100 and the Arizona Business Leadership Association (ABL). Rich was on the board of U-haul Self Storage. He taught analyzing financial statements at Glendale Community College. Rich graduated with honors (magna cum laude) from University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and holds an MBA with an emphasis in Finance from Arizona State University. |
