Houston-based Amegy Bank of Texas has named April Bailey regional president for Central Texas, a new position overseeing operations across the bank’s San Antonio and Austin markets, according to the San Antonio Business Journal.
According to the Business Journal, Bailey graduated from Amegy Bank’s Banker Development Program in 2004 and began her career with the bank’s commercial lending department. Most recently, she served from the bank’s Houston headquarters as executive vice president, overseeing asset-based lending and commercial banking. She is the first graduate of the development program with the title of president and the first woman to be appointed to the role of president within the bank.
“So many graduates of the program have gone on to do great things and are at the tops of their fields,” Bailey told the Business Journal. “Banking has been making great progress [regarding women in executive positions], and there are so many more women behind us to come.”
Prior to joining Amegy Bank in 2004, Bailey worked in the senior corporate trust division of JPMorgan Chase in Houston. She earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston and an MBA degree from the University of St. Thomas. She also completed the Executive Education Leadership Program at Harvard Business School as a leadership fellow with the International Women’s Forum program.
Bailey serves on the boards of the Greater Houston Port Bureau, Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce, the University of St. Thomas and the Houston chapter of Teach for America, a nonprofit organization that nurtures educational excellence and opportunities in the U.S.
Part of Amegy Bank’s strategy in Central Texas includes continuing to expand its commercial banking footprint, servicing large, medium and small commercial loans. As the Business Journal reports, the bank intends to expand its personal banking presence, as well. “We’re looking…where our customers are going, and we’ve identified sites for some more branches,” Bailey told reporter Ramzi Abou Ghalioum. To accommodate the growth, Bailey says the bank will be making both internal and external hires.
Currently, Amegy Bank has one branch in Austin, but Bailey’s appointment is correlated to the growth along Interstate 35 between San Antonio and Austin. “We’re being very thoughtful about how we grow in Austin,” Bailey told the Business Journal. The bank’s Central Texas region also includes five locations in San Antonio and one in New Braunfels.
Established in 1990, Amegy Bank of Texas has been a division of Zions Bancorporation since 2005. It operates more than 75 locations across Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth and Central Texas.
