Santa Cruz County Bank In The News

March 1, 2006

The following is an article from the Santa Cruz Sentinel, to visit the Santa Cruz Sentinel web site, click here.

By Jondi Gumz
Sentinel staff writer

SANTA CRUZ - A change at the top was announced Tuesday at Santa Cruz County Bank.

David Heald, who had been executive vice president, was tapped as president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. He succeeds John Rossell, who had been president and CEO, guiding the bank from its inception two years ago. Rossell has agreed to assist in the transition, according to board chairman George Gallucci.

Rossell had been upbeat earlier this month about the bank's quarterly earnings, and Gallucci said "the bank is doing well."

The change, he explained, resulted from the realization that the bank had "two extremely capable leaders and there isn't room for two strong people like that."

Gallucci thanked Rossell for his accomplishments, saying he was "key in the organizational phase. He executed that very well."

The bank, the only locally owned and operated commercial bank in the county, has expanded to three branches Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley and Watsonville. During the fourth quarter, it opened two kiosks, at Dominican Hospital and Deluxe Foods of Aptos.

Gallucci said Rossell hasn't decided what he will do after leaving Santa Cruz County Bank but added "he has a number of options."

Rossell had been president of Heritage Bank in San Jose and worked for a financial planning company in Santa Barbara before coming to Santa Cruz.

Because Rossell was from out of the area, the bank founders brought in Heald because of his knowledge of the local community.

Heald, who lives in Scotts Valley, is a veteran banker. Before joining the startup, he had helped launch Coast Commercial Bank in 1982 and supervised lending, branch administration and compliance.

He also has been active in numerous nonprofits locally, chairing the Advisory Board of the Central Coast Small Business Development Center and serving on the board of the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council and the Cabrillo College Foundation.