Wells Fargo has hired a longtime Bank of America executive to head up its small-business banking division.
Derek Ellington, who will start on Oct. 18, spent 24 years at Bank of America and most recently was business banking region executive for the company’s Atlantic South region.
He will replace Steve Troutner, who joined Wells in 2019 but decided to step down this summer to focus on his health and family, a spokesperson said.
Ellington will be based in Atlanta and report to Mary Mack, Wells Fargo’s CEO of consumer and small-business banking. Mack said in a press release that Ellington’s experience will “serve us well as we continue to elevate our support of small businesses.”
San Francisco-based Wells Fargo reported $16.5 billion in loans in its small-business division at the end of the second quarter, up from roughly $10 billion a year earlier. Much of the growth was due to the bank's participation in the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program.
Ellington has held a range of roles during his career at BofA in commercial, retail and small-business banking. At the $1.9 trillion-asset Wells Fargo, he will lead a team of nearly 2,000 lenders and other professionals serving small-business clients.
