BANKING/FINANCE : Eldorado Bank Adds 2 Managers in Drive to Double Its Size
Eldorado Bank, long one of Orange County’s bigger independent banks, is building a potent and impressive management team as it launches a drive to double its size by the end of 1995 through internal growth and acquisitions.
The Tustin bank lured Harvey Ferguson away from his job as branch administrator at CommerceBank in Newport Beach last week to become chief administrative officer and will add Michael Dunahee to its top management as director of marketing and sales on Friday when it closes its previously announced $5.5-million purchase of Bank of San Clemente. Both men will also be executive vice presidents.
The addition of the two officers will give Eldorado a total of four top managers who have been chief executives at other banks.
Ferguson had been president at California City Bank in Orange, which CommerceBank bought last year, and at Valencia Bank in Santa Ana, which failed in 1986 despite his efforts to save it. Dunahee has been credited with leading the turnaround of the Bank of San Clemente as its president.
“We will have one of the strongest executive teams of any independent bank in Orange County, if not in Southern California,” said J. B. Crowell, president and chief executive of the bank and its holding company, Eldorado Bancorp in Laguna Hills.
The bank will need a strong team to carry out its plan to grow to $700 million in assets by the end of 1995.
Friday’s merger will give Eldorado $351 million in assets, based on Aug. 31 figures, he said. All Bank of San Clemente employees will be retained, he said.
In addition, Eldorado has hired John J. McCauley, a former executive vice president at Bank of Commerce in San Diego, as senior vice president to manage its Small Business Administration loan program. Under the program, the federal agency guarantees 85%, or up to $750,000, of any qualifying loan made to small companies.
