Abilene-based First Financial Bank NA has named Jamie Esch chairman and CEO of First Financial Bank, Hereford region. The announcement was made by Ron Butler, chief administrative officer of First Financial Bankshares Inc.

“Jamie’s experiences as a highly successful banker will greatly complement the work of our Hereford region and strengthen our footprint throughout the Panhandle,” Butler says. “He’s a native of the area and knows first-hand the work ethic of our customers and citizens in the region.”

Since 2019, Esch has served as senior vice president of private banking and commercial lending at Amarillo-based Happy State Bank and Trust Co., where he was responsible for developing processes and products for the private banking department and developing consumer and commercial portfolios of private banking clients. He joined Happy State Bank in 2017 as senior vice president and director of operations, responsible for the daily operations of the bank, including deposit operations, training and information technology.

Esch received a degree in business administration in 1998 from West Texas A&M University before beginning a 12-year engagement with Bank of America in Dallas, Amarillo and Springfield, Missouri. During that span, Esch served as assistant vice president/banking center manager, vice president/community bank staffing manager, vice president/senior client manager and senior vice president/consumer market manager. In Springfield, he was Southwest Missouri market president/consumer market executive from 2007 to 2011, then served as Southern Missouri president/area executive from 2011 to 2012. Esch also served as executive vice president/chief lending officer at Peoples Bank of the Ozarks from 2012 to 2014 and market president/senior commercial lender at Metropolitan State Bank/Bear State Bank in Kimberling City, Missouri, for three years, beginning in 2014.

Established in 1890, First Financial Bank NA operates multiple banking regions with 78 locations in Texas.