LAKEWOOD, Colo., April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FirstBank, one of the largest privately held banks in the nation with a focus on “banking for good,” recently named Adam Sands the Chief Banking Officer (CBO). Sands will assume the majority of the responsibilities formerly held by the company’s President, including supporting the bank’s markets, customers, loan and deposit production as well as the company’s growth strategy.
Sands’ promotion to CBO follows recent leadership changes. As of March 29, 2024, former CEO Jim Reuter announced his retirement. The board elected previous FirstBank President Kevin Classen as the new CEO and promoted Kelly Kaminskas to Chief Operating Officer.
“Adam is well known for creating successful business alliances and being a strong collaborator throughout FirstBank and Colorado,” said Kevin Classen, CEO of FirstBank. “We’re confident he’ll continue to be an asset as CBO and help steer the bank in the right direction.”
After joining the bank nearly 20 years ago, Sands worked in senior officer roles across several Front Range markets. Since 2019, he served as President of the Cherry Creek Market, one of FirstBank’s top-performing trade areas with over $1.2 billion in deposits and $1.4 billion in loans. He also received the Denver Business Journal’s 40 under 40 award in 2017 for his significant impact on FirstBank’s commercial portfolio and his efforts to improve the Denver community.
“It’s an honor to be appointed and to help lead an organization that’s been a driving force within Colorado’s economy and business community,” said Sands. “FirstBank is nationally recognized as a top performing bank, known for its workplace culture, customer satisfaction, and corporate philanthropy. As CBO, my goal is to build on that success by doing what FirstBank does best: banking for good. We know if we focus on strengthening our communities, increasing access to innovative products and resources, and creating happy customer and employee experiences, we’ll continue to sustainably grow and take market share.”
“This is an exciting time at FirstBank,” added Classen. “We’re a strong organization thanks to our predecessors, but are well poised to continue our upward momentum thanks to our new leadership team’s expertise and know-how.”
As of Dec. 31, 2023, FirstBank reported $28.2 billion in total assets. The company was also identified as one of the nation’s “10 Top-Performing Banks” by a 2023 American Banker study.
About FirstBank
FirstBank began providing banking services in 1963. Today, it’s known as an industry leader in digital banking and has grown to be one of the largest privately held banks in the United States, maintaining more than $28 billion in assets and 100 branch locations across Colorado, Arizona and California. FirstBank offers a variety of consumer deposit accounts, home equity loans, mortgages, rental property loans and a full range of commercial banking services, including business financing, commercial real estate loans, treasury management and more. Since 2000, FirstBank has been recognized as a top corporate philanthropist, contributing over $85 million and thousands of volunteer hours to charitable organizations. The company is also unique in that a large portion of its stock is owned by management and employees, giving employees a financial stake in the bank’s success through its Employee Stock Ownership Program. For more information, visit www.efirstbank.com.
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