FirstBank, a privately held bank that maintains more than $28 billion in assets and 100 branch locations across Colorado, Arizona and California, promoted Adam Sands to chief banking officer. In this role, Sands will assume the majority of the responsibilities formerly held by the company’s president, including supporting the bank’s markets, customers, loan and deposit production as well as the company’s growth strategy.

Sands’ promotion to chief banking officer follows recent leadership changes at the bank, with former CEO Jim Reuter announcing his retirement at the end of March. The board elected previous FirstBank President Kevin Classen as the new CEO and promoted Kelly Kaminskas to chief operating officer.

“Adam is well known for creating successful business alliances and being a strong collaborator throughout FirstBank and Colorado,” Classen said. “We’re confident he’ll continue to be an asset as CBO and help steer the bank in the right direction.”

After joining the bank nearly 20 years ago, Sands worked in senior officer roles across several Front Range markets in Colorado. Since 2019, he served as president of the Cherry Creek market in Colorado, one of FirstBank’s top-performing trade areas with more than $1.2 billion in deposits and $1.4 billion in loans. He also received the Denver Business Journal’s 40 under 40 award in 2017 for his impact on FirstBank’s commercial portfolio and his efforts to improve the Denver community.

“It’s an honor to be appointed and to help lead an organization that’s been a driving force within Colorado’s economy and business community,” Sands said. “FirstBank is nationally recognized as a top performing bank, known for its workplace culture, customer satisfaction and corporate philanthropy. As CBO, my goal is to build on that success by doing what FirstBank does best: banking for good. We know if we focus on strengthening our communities, increasing access to innovative products and resources, and creating happy customer and employee experiences, we’ll continue to sustainably grow and take market share.”

“This is an exciting time at FirstBank,” Classen said. “We’re a strong organization thanks to our predecessors, but are well poised to continue our upward momentum thanks to our new leadership team’s expertise and know-how.”