NEW ENGLAND
Bank Rhode Island of Providence, has given James V. DeRentis additional duties along with the new title of chief business officer.
Mr. DeRentis, who remains an executive vice president, will add oversight of the bank's commercial lending operations to his current duties as the head of retail banking and marketing.
Donald C. McQueen, the chief operating officer who had run commercial lending, will temporarily pick up oversight of the human resources department from Mr. DeRentis.
The $1.4 billion-asset unit of Bancorp Rhode Island Inc. said the job shifts were made in part because Mr. McQueen has decided to leave. He will remain the chief operating officer until a successor is found - the bank expects that to take three to six months.
Both men have been with the bank since 1996.
WESTCommunity Bancorp Inc. of Escondido, Calif., has hired Ken Carteron as a senior vice president and the manager of the homeowners association division at its $895 million-asset Community National Bank.
Mr. Carteron was the manager of the homeowners association division at 1st Centennial Bank, a $425 million-asset bank in Redlands.
Earlier in his 24-year banking career he had held similar jobs at Scripps Bank of La Jolla (which U.S. Bancorp bought in 2000) and Bank of Commerce of San Diego (which U.S. Bancorp bought in 1999).
California Savings Bank, a San Francisco unit of Chicago's FBOP Corp., has hired Richard Caldwell as its chief lending officer and an executive vice president.
Mr. Caldwell came to the $1 billion-asset bank from Buchanan Street Partners Inc., a Newport Beach, Calif., mortgage bank and fund manager.
Earlier in his 17-year commercial banking and real estate finance career he had worked at GMAC Commercial Mortgage, Merrill Lynch Capital, and BankAmerica Corp.
California Savings said Mr. Caldwell would work with Patricia Theophilos, its chief credit officer, toward a goal of doubling the asset base, to $2 billion, by early 2007.
MIDDLE ATLANTICFirst Niagara Financial Group Inc. of Lockport, N.Y., has hired a private banking executive from Bank of New York to fill the newly created job of executive vice president of wealth management.
Lee C. Wortham will lead two units, First Niagara Trust Services Inc. and First Niagara Securities Inc., as a member of the management committee at the parent company's $8 billion-asset subsidiary, First Niagara Bank.
He had been the executive vice president in charge of private banking at Bank of New York since joining it in 1999. Before that he had worked at Chase Manhattan Bank for 14 years, most recently as the managing director of the global entrepreneur segment of its private bank.
He has 25 years of financial services experience.
FedFirst Financial Corp. of Monessen, Pa., has hired John G. Robinson as the president and chief executive officer of the company and its $287 million-asset First Federal Savings Bank.
He succeeded Peter D. Griffith, who had held those jobs since 1988 and has retired.
Mr. Robinson was the labor union relationship manager and a senior vice president at PNC Bank. He worked at the Pittsburgh bank for 27 years.
FedFirst has also hired Patrick G. O'Brien as its chief operating officer and an executive vice president.
Mr. O'Brien was the Pennsylvania regional president and a senior commercial lender for WesBanco Bank Inc. of Wheeling, W.Va.
