Sunflower Bank hired four commercial banking teams as it expands in Southern California. James Canepa, who joined Sunflower Bank in April, will lead the new teams as executive vice president and regional president.

Canepa will be responsible for the strategy, management and growth of Sunflower Bank’s commercial banking, private banking and wealth management services in greater Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernadino, Orange and San Diego counties.

“We are very excited to bring on this experienced team of commercial bankers and for the opportunity they provide to build new client and business relationships in Southern California,” Neal Arnold, CEO and president of Sunflower Bank, said. “James Canepa and his leadership team spent their careers building their relationships in this region and they bring a client service passion that we love. We look forward to working with this team to make an impact in this region for Sunflower Bank.”

Canepa has more than 25 years of banking experience across commercial banking, private banking and wealth management. His most recent roles involved developing and overseeing California-wide banking teams for regional banks.

The Sunflower Bank Southern California regional team led by Canepa is already operational and is comprised of commercial relationship managers, credit and portfolio managers, and commercial support associates.

“My team and I are thrilled to join Sunflower Bank together and bring our great teamwork and market intelligence to this stellar organization,” Canepa said. “We look forward to complementing our commitment to providing best-in-class relationship management with the robust commercial and private banking services that Sunflower Bank has to offer. The combination is a perfect fit for all our Southern California communities and we’ve already seen a great response from our networks.”

Sunflower Bank is establishing four commercial offices in Southern California to support the following organizational structure:

• David Alterman will be senior vice president and managing group director leading the Greater Los Angeles market, serving areas including Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.
• Cathie Wachter will be senior vice president and managing group director leading the west Los Angeles market, specializing in family offices and the entertainment industry.
• Ernesto Arredondo Jr. and Stephen Clark will be senior vice presidents and co-managing group directors jointly leading the Orange County and San Diego markets.
• Kenneth Hernandez will be senior vice president and managing group director leading the Inland Empire market covering San Bernadino and Riverside counties.
• Keith Budoff will be senior vice president and regional senior credit administrator for the Southern California region responsible for implementing Sunflower Bank’s locally-driven decision-making credit model.

Sunflower Bank has a regional structure that the Southern California Region can access to provide its clients with specialty lines of business, including treasury management, asset-based lending; public finance; technology, media and telecommunications and other industry-specific financing; private banking and wealth management services; and mortgage capabilities in 43 states through its Guardian Mortgage division.