TEXAS BANKING NEWS, PEOPLE AND IDEAS
TEXAS BANKING NEWS, PEOPLE AND IDEAS
Abilene-based First Financial Bank NA has opened a new location in Frankin—its 80th Texas branch. The Franklin branch extends the bank’s reach in the Bryan/College Station region to six locations. Located at 100 W. Decherd, Suite C, the new walk-in facility is an expansion in services from the previous loan production office that opened earlier … Read more
Jeff Austin III, chairman of the board of Jacksonville-based Austin Bank, recently announced that Patty Steelman has assumed the new position of community engagement officer and Rachel French has been named senior vice president and marketing director. Steelman, executive vice president, joined Austin Bank in 1999 as the bank’s first director of marketing and has … Read more
Kevin Wasson has joined the staff of Longview-based Texas Bank and Trust as vice president and data and business automation manager in its technology division in Longview. Wasson has worked in the financial services industry with a local credit union in various capacities since 1986. His experience includes consumer/mortgage lending, manager of IT operations and … Read more
Spence Bridges has been hired to serve as the new president at Houston-based Texas Gulf Bank NA. He succeeds Rich Jochetz, who is retiring after serving as president for the past 15-plus years. Over the first few months of 2023, the bank engaged Sudduth Search, a well-respected executive search firm, to aid in identifying the … Read more
Longtime Texas banker and Texas Longhorn Hall of Famer Jack Altman Collins passed away on August 9 at the age of 82. He was born in Beaumont, but the family moved to Dallas when Collins was in grade school. A graduate of Highland Park High School, he played on the 1957 state championship football team … Read more
On August 7, Choudrant, Louisiana-based Origin Bank announced the opening of its Northwest Freeway banking center in Houston, located at the intersection of W. 34th St. and Hwy. 290. The new location marks the bank’s entry into Houston’s Northwest corridor and is the 10th banking center Origin Bank has opened in the Houston area since … Read more
On August 7, Athens-based First State Bank broke ground on a new full-service banking center in Forney. Construction of the 4,278-square-foot facility is targeted for completion by the end of the year. Bank executives, along with general contractors with the SLI Group Inc., a fully integrated commercial design firm specializing in financial institutions, were on … Read more
On August 11, Moulton-based SouthStar Bank SSB announced the hiring of two new lenders. Jason Herbert joins the bank’s Leander branch as a vice president of lending and branch executive. He brings more than 20 years of experience in the banking industry with a focus on residential lending. One of Herbert’s crowning achievements across his … Read more
Dallas-based PlainsCapital Bank has announced that Judge John Gonzales Jr. has joined its Edinburg lending group as senior vice president/commercial loan officer at the bank’s 100 W. Cano Street location. He brings more than 30 years of financial services experience, including roles in the banking, financial advisory and insurance industries, as well as local government. … Read more
On August 7, Texas State Bankshares Inc., the holding company for Harlingen-based Texas Regional Bank (TRB), announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Dallas-based investment banking group Estrada Hinojosa & Co. Inc. The acquisition will add a team of 48 individuals—as well as offices in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Edinburg, … Read more