Five Star Bancorp announced the hiring of seasoned commercial banking professional, Jeff Winkel, as Senior Vice President / Managing Director, and the promotion of Reagan Ballo to Vice President / Managing Director of Government Banking. Both will advance the company’s expansion strategy in the San Francisco Bay Area.
“We are very pleased to welcome Jeff, a fourth generation San Franciscan and a highly experienced professional, who we believe will enhance our expansion efforts in the Bay Area, and especially, the non-profit community,” said Five Star Bank President and Chief Executive Officer, James Beckwith. “We are also pleased Reagan has been promoted to expand upon Five Star’s outreach efforts to special districts in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. We have gained considerable traction in onboarding new Bay Area clients who have learned about our extensive high-tech and high-touch business banking capabilities and we look forward to Jeff and Reagan introducing new clients to our organization.”
“Five Star Bank is closing the gap in San Francisco commercial banking left from the Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank failures,” said Five Star Bank San Francisco Bay Area President, DJ Kurtze. “The Bay Area community has been seeking a Northern California bank that provides a highly personalized concierge banking experience – and Five Star has answered the call. Jeff was a Senior Managing Director at First Republic Bank for over 23 years and is extremely committed to the San Francisco Bay Area community. Our clients in the non-profit sector can count on him to listen to and support their interests, which we expect will benefit the communities we serve. Similarly, Reagan has been serving public entities and their critical role in our communities. A resident of the North Bay, Reagan will strengthen our efforts in the greater Bay Area market.”
Prior to joining Five Star Bank as Senior Vice President / Managing Director, Winkel served as Senior Vice President, Group Director of Commercial and Private Banking at Flagstar Bank and Senior Managing Director of Business Banking at First Republic Bank. At First Republic Bank, Winkel was responsible for underwriting business credit requests, growing overall banking relationships and ensuring a high-level client service experience. Winkel managed senior credit analysts and senior compliance officers, and worked closely with a team of preferred bankers in different regions who assisted in managing clients’ day-to-day banking needs. His work focused mainly in the San Francisco Bay Area, but he had a presence in New York City and Southern California. Winkel’s client composition leans heavily toward the non-profit sector.
Prior to his promotion to Vice President / Managing Director of Government Banking, Ballo served as Vice President, Government Banking Officer at Five Star Bank. Ballo joined Five Star in 2018 as an Accelerated Leadership Track participant. In this program, Ballo worked in the operations department as well as the relationship banking department. He was soon promoted to Market Intelligence Analyst where he identified new business opportunities. He now leads the bank’s government banking efforts. Ballo graduated from the University of California, Davis with a Bachelor of Science degree in managerial economics and a minor in contemporary leadership. In the past, Ballo served on the board of the UC Davis Chapter for Students in VITA, an IRS program that provided free tax return preparation to low-income individuals and families, the elderly and those with disabilities.