TEXAS BANKING NEWS, PEOPLE AND IDEAS
TEXAS BANKING NEWS, PEOPLE AND IDEAS
Jeff Austin III, chairman of Jacksonville-based Austin Bank, recently announced the hiring of Leigh Gilland and Jed Crow for its new Montgomery branch. Scheduled to open in June, Montgomery will be Austin Bank’s 36th location and further expand its Southeast Texas service area. “Expanding into Montgomery is a natural progression for Austin Bank,” Austin says, … Read more
Ashley Harrison-Peña has been hired to serve as senior vice president/commercial lender at Mount Pleasant-based Guaranty Bank & Trust. She has more than 15 years of banking experience, including underwriting, portfolio management and lending. As a commercial lender, she has experience in various lending areas, including health care, commercial real estate, commercial construction, nonprofit and … Read more
Plains Bancorp Inc., the holding company for Dimmitt-based First United Bank, has hired Gary Hinders to serve on the bank’s Canyon team as senior vice president of commercial lending. He will office at the Canyon banking center at 801 23rd St. Hinders, a longtime resident of Canyon, comes to First United Bank with 29 years … Read more
On May 17, CBTX Inc., the parent company of Houston-based CommunityBank of Texas NA, and Allegiance Bancshares Inc., the holding company of Houston-based Allegiance Bank, jointly announced that Stellar Bancorp Inc. will be the name of the combined company and Stellar Bank will be the name of the combined bank to be created through their … Read more
Wellington-based Wellington State Bank announced that Joe B. Thompson has been named senior vice president and branch president of the bank’s Stephenville location. Thompson has more than 30 years of banking experience in Erath County and 20 years in the Stephenville market. He most recently served as vice president at Spirit of Texas Bank in … Read more
El Paso-based WestStar Bank has promoted Yvonne Dorado to senior vice president/treasurer. As treasurer, she will oversee the bank’s treasury function with responsibilities in interest rate risk management and reporting, investment accounting and monitoring, capital and liquidity planning, management of correspondent bank relationships and assistance with special projects. Dorado previously served as both assistant controller … Read more
Choudrant, Louisiana-based Origin Bank has hired Todd Cornelius as regional executive vice president/business development for its North Texas region. He joins the team at Origin Bank’s Dallas financial center. Cornelius has more than 27 years of banking experience, specializing in the development and training of banking personnel through strategic partnerships and relationship building. In his … Read more
El Paso-based WestStar Bank has announced the hiring of Marcela Candia as vice president and controller. She will oversee financial and regulatory accounting and reporting for WestStar and will work closely with senior management on implementing new accounting pronouncements and special projects. Candia joins WestStar with 17 years of experience working for large publicly traded … Read more
Cuero-based TrustTexas Bank recently promoted Mari Santoya-Lopez to assistant branch manager of the bank’s Cuero branch. She has been with TrustTexas Bank for three-and-a-half years, having joined as a relationship banker at the Laurent branch. She then moved on to serving as a floating universal banker II, traveling to various Southern regional branches. She enjoys … Read more
Larry Allen, Lubbock-based Peoples Bank CEO and chairman, has announced the promotion of Matthew Knies. He will serve as branch president at the bank’s Princeton location. Knies has been with Peoples Bank for eight months and in the banking industry for more than five years. Knies received his BBA degree with concentrations in finance and … Read more