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The chief executive of Golden Pacific Bancorp in Sacramento has left the company.
August 20
Golden Pacific Bancorp in Sacramento, Calif., has hired Virginia A. Varela, a longtime banker and regulator, as chief executive.
Varela started in November, but the $133.8 million-asset bank did not announce her hiring until Tuesday. Varela also sits on the board of directors.
She succeeded Kirk Dowdell, who co-founded the bank in 2007 and served for four years as CEO until
Varela has more than 25 years of experience as a regulator and community banking executive. Most recently she was chief operating officer of Bank of the Orient, a $466 million-asset bank in San Francisco, Calif.
She previously served as president and CEO of Bank of Rio Vista, a $178 million-asset bank in Rio Vista, Calif., and as president of San Luis Trust Bank, a $332 million-asset bank in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Varela also worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the Office of Thrift Supervision.
Varela remains a consultant with a division of the U.S. State Department that provides banking assistance to developing countries.
"Ms. Varela is the consummate, multidimensional, banking professional, who, as both a business person and a prior regulator, mastered a variety of banking scenarios," Golden Pacific Chairman Frank Washington said in a
Golden Pacific operates five branches in Yuba, Sutter and Sacramento counties in California, under the Golden Pacific Bank and Gold Country Bank brands.
