Community Bank of the Bay’s new CEO eyes growth

Posted on | by asblankproject
June 8th, 2012

Community Bank of the Bay’s new CEO eyes growth

As Published In: San Francisco Business Times

Community Bank of the Bay has turned to Bill Keller to take the reins of the Oakland-based community bank.

Keller joined the $135 million bank in early 2009 as president and chief operating officer.

Keller said his mission is to build a traditional community bank focused on long-term relationships with Bay Area clients. The bank’s offices are in Danville, Oakland and San Jose.

“Bill was instrumental in developing and executing the business and capital plan that allowed Community Bank to expand into two new markets,” said Chairman Frank Tsai.

When the bank raised $8 million a couple years ago, half the money came from investors in the Danville area, where Keller was chief operating officer at Diablo Valley Bank from its inception in 2003 until its eventual sale to Heritage Bank of Commerce .

Prior to Diablo Valley Bank, Keller was CEO of Bay Bank of Commerce and executive vice president at Mid Peninsula Bank, both owned by Greater Bay Bancorp, which was later purchased by Wells Fargo.

Keller’s predecessor at Community Bank was Brian Garrett, now CEO of Bank of the Orient in San Francisco.

Keller has his work cut out for him at Community Bank of the Bay, where growth tops the agenda.

“We are all about getting back to the basics of community banking,” Keller said. “We have a real focus on client-relationship-driven banking.” Financial Woman of Year named

The Financial Women’s Association of San Francisco says it named Barbara Morrison, founder and president of TMC Financing, as its Financial Woman of the Year.

The award will be presented at an Oct. 2 luncheon in the fall that raises money for the FWA Scholarship Fund.

Morrison’s acceptance speech should be interesting: She says that when she began as a trader on Montgomery Street 30 years ago, the firm told her, “We don’t give girls business cards.”

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