MIDWEST
Firstbank Corp. in Alma, Mich., has hired Samuel G. Stone, the senior vice president of corporate planning at National City Corp., as chief financial officer.
Mr. Stone, who was also given the title of vice president, had worked at National City for two years. Before that he had spent 28 years at First of America Bank Corp. in Kalamazoo, Mich., which National City bought in 1998. At First of America he rose to the position of senior vice president and treasurer.
Firstbank has $712 million of assets.
Citizens Bank Illinois in Berwyn has hired Robert S. Powell as the senior vice president in charge of lending operations in Illinois.He was the vice president of operations in Chicago for Deutsche Financial Services Corp., a St. Louis unit of Deutsche Bank AG.
Citizens has also hired Richard S. Peabody as a vice president and commercial loan officer at the banks Elk Grove Village loan office. He held a similar job in Chicago at Atlantic Bank of New York.
Citizens, with $240 million of assets, is a subsidiary of $8.4 billion-asset Citizens Banking Corp. of Flint, Mich.
MIDDLE ATLANTICTroy Financial Corp. in Troy, N.Y., has named David J. DeLuca as the chief financial officer of the company and its principal subsidiaries, Troy Savings Bank and Troy Commercial Bank.
He was also named a senior vice president. He reports to Daniel J. Hogarty, chairman, president, and chief executive officer.
Mr. DeLuca joined Troy in November when it acquired Catskill Financial Corp. He had been its chief financial officer and that of its Catskill Savings Bank since 1996.
Before that he had worked at KeyCorp as the senior vice president responsible for corporate planning and forecasting in Albany. He has 25 years of financial management experience.
Troy Financial has $902 million of assets.
SOUTHEASTFlorida Banks Inc. in Jacksonville has hired David Ruppel to be the president and CEO of Pinellas County operations for its Tampa-based Florida Bank NA.
He will succeed Joe Wheeler, who plans to retire.
Mr. Ruppel was the executive vice president in charge of Tampa Bay banking operations for SouthTrust Bank in Birmingham, Ala. Before that he had been the division head of private banking at Southeast Bank in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which First Union Corp. in Charlotte, N.C., acquired in 1997.
He has 24 years of banking experience in Tampa.
Florida Banks Inc. has $313 million of assets.
Gulf West Banks Inc. in St. Petersburg, Fla., has named Robert A. Blakley, president and chief operating officer of its Mercantile Bank, as the banks chief executive officer, succeeding Gordon Campbell.Doug Wilson, a senior vice president of Mercantile, succeeded Mr. Blakley as chief operating officer.
Mr. Campbell remains chairman of the bank as well as chairman and president of the $429 million-asset holding company.
Mr. Blakley was named president and chief operating officer last year and has worked for the bank since 1991. He has 22 years of Florida banking experience.
Mr. Wilson, who is responsible for the banks marketing, retail banking, technology, and operations, has worked for Mercantile since 1995.
WESTRedding Bancorp in California has promoted Michael C. Mayer, chief operating officer of Redding Bank of Commerce, to president and chief executive officer of the bank.
He succeeds Russell L. Duclos as the $256 million-asset banks president and CEO. Mr. Duclos remains president and CEO of the holding company.
Mr. Mayer has 22 years of banking experience.
Sunwest Bank in Tustin, Calif., has hired Phil Andrews to run its Anaheim branch and named him a vice president.He reports to Allison Geller, senior vice president and branch administrator.
Mr. Andrews was a vice president and branch manager at Pacific Business Bank in Santa Fe Springs, his employer for a year. He has 20 years of business banking experience in Orange County, including positions at Orange National Bank, which Citizens Business Bank in Ontario bought in 1999.
Sunwest has $180 million of assets.
