BayCom in Walnut Creek, Calif., has shaken up its C-Suite.
The company said in a press release that Christopher Baron had become its president and CEO and will join the board. Baron, who recently served as president of commercial and community banking at Banc of California, succeeded George Guarini, who founded the bank.
William Black Jr. was named executive vice chairman and will join the board. He was executive vice president of strategy and corporate development at PacWest Bancorp and Banc of California.
Kevin Thompson, who was the chief financial officer of Heartland Financial USA, was named CFO. Thompson succeeded Keary Colwell.
“The vision for this company has not changed,” Lloyd Kendall Jr., a founding director and chairman, said in the release. “The focus has always been on building a premier western regional bank with real scale and presence across the key growth markets of the Western U.S. What changed is the board’s assessment of the tactics and the team needed to get us there.”
“We are taking the helm of a profitable, well-run institution with a strong foundation and a compelling market opportunity,” Baron said. “Our focus is on building a growth engine, improving our trading multiple, and then executing on the larger, more transformational combinations that will complete the Western Region footprint.”
Guarini, Colwell and Janet King resigned from the board. Guarini will remain on the bank’s board. King also stepped down as chief operating officer.