Robert V. New Jr., the president and chief executive officer of Green Bank in Houston, has been named become president and chief executive officer of F.N.B. Corp. in Hermitage, Pa.
Mr. New is expected to join the $6.1 billion-asset F.N.B. in January and take over as president and CEO April 1, succeeding Stephen J. Gurgovitz. Mr. Gurgovitz is expected to become F.NB.'s chairman in January.
As the head of the $235 million-asset Green, Mr. New led the the bank's effort to become more ecologically friendly. The bank's name was changed from Redstone Bank to Green Bank last month and Mr. New even traded in his Chevrolet Tahoe for a hybrid earlier this year.
Mr. New helped to form Green's parent company, Green Bancorp Inc., in 2006 with Manuel Mehos, and the company acquired Redstone Bank last year.
Mr. Mehos, Green Bancorp's chairman and the former chairman and CEO at Coastal Bancorp in Houston, said he would take over as CEO of the bank subsidiary until a replacement can be found. (The $3 billion-asset Coastal was sold to Hibernia Corp. of New Orleans in 2004 and Hibernia was acquired by Capital One Financial Corp. last year.)
In an interview Monday, Mr. Mehos said, "It's going to be a big loss for us, but we support" Mr. New. "Bob got a very good offer, and we are too small too match it. … That's banking."
Mr. Mehos said the hybrid car belongs to the bank, "and now I am going to get to drive it."
