Umpqua Bank, a subsidiary of Umpqua Holdings Corp., is expanding its presence in Nevada with a new branch in Las Vegas.
And the bank has hired Aric Graham, who most recently served as vice president of commercial lending at US Bank in Las Vegas, as its senior vice president of commercial banking and regional director.
Las Vegas was seen as a viable location as the company continues to expand its commercial banking footprint. Besides Las Vegas, the company added new commercial lending offices in Phoenix and Salt Lake City.
“As the economy continues to improve, small and medium-sized businesses across the west coast are looking for financial partners who can grow with them,” Cort O’Haver, Umpqua’s president of commercial banking, said in an email to the Las Vegas Business Press. O’Haver said Umpqua is positioned to be an “important partner” with Las Vegas-area businesses.
Portland-based Umpqua’s commercial lending office in Las Vegas represents its first expansion in Southern Nevada. The expansion moves the bank beyond its current lending and retail banking presence in Nevada, with branches in Reno and Incline Village. The company’s previous lending and banking footprint included Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California and Northern Nevada.
“We’ll continue to look for opportunities to grow within Las Vegas and elsewhere, as it makes sense,” O’Haver said.
Graham will be responsible for starting and developing the commercial banking team as well as managing middle market lending directly to Las Vegas-area businesses.
Umpqua has also hired two relationship managers for the Las Vegas commercial lending office — Ralph Capristo, who most recently worked as an assistant vice president with US Bank, and Joseph Kucik, who worked in commercial lending at Nevada State Bank.
Umpqua recently reported second-quarter profits increased as its mortgage business picked up. The bank earned $54.7 million last quarter, or 25 cents per share, missing analysts’ estimates by 5 cents.
However, if you exclude nonrecurring costs, Umpqua earned $68.7 million, or 31 cents a share, in the second quarter. Umpqua reported $22.79 billion in assets, while its loan portfolio grew 5 percent to $15.85 billion in the second quarter.
