El Paso-based WestStar announced the appointment of Myrna A. Ortiz as senior vice president of corporate accounting. She will oversee capital and liquidity planning activities, manage interest rate risk and reporting, handle investment accounting and monitoring and lead special projects. In addition, the bank has hired Nancy C. McElroy as vice president of corporate accounting. Her responsibilities will encompass strategic alignment, tax planning and reporting, and ensuring regulatory compliance.

Ortiz joins WestStar with more than 21 years of accounting experience in various mediums such as audit, utilities and real estate. She earned a BBA degree and a Master’s in Accountancy degree with a concentration in auditing from the University of Texas–El Paso. She is a certified public accountant in Texas.

Ortiz holds leadership roles as treasurer and board member of the El Paso chapter of the Texas Society of CPAs, audit committee chair for the Girl Scouts of the Desert Southwest and a member of the University of Texas–El Paso Accounting and Information Systems advisory council. She is also a 2020 Leadership Texas alumnus and was president of Beta Alpha Psi at the University of Texas–El Paso. Beta Alpha Psi promotes financial integrity and mentors future accounting professionals.

With a career spanning more than 19 years, McElroy’s background in financial strategy development will be instrumental in driving the institution’s growth. She earned her BA degree in accounting and an MBA with a focus in accounting from the University of Texas–El Paso. She also holds a graduate certificate in public utility regulation and economics from New Mexico State University. McElroy is a certified public accountant in Texas.

In addition to her professional achievements, McElroy is an active member of the Paso Del Norte chapter of Financial Women in Texas and has served as a board member and mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters of El Paso. She volunteers with Junior Achievement of El Paso, Money Smart Week, Rebuilding Together El Paso and Villa Maria.

WestStar serves the Borderplex region—El Paso, Texas; Las Cruces, New Mexico; and Juárez, Mexico—with 14 branches. The bank’s roots trace back more than a century and are built on the combined legacies of four local institutions: Bank of Ysleta, Bank of El Paso, First National Bank of Fabens and Bank of the West (rebranded as WestStar Bank in 2012). These banks united over time and, through mergers, ultimately became WestStar in 2016.