Knight named Santa Clara Valley Bank chief exec
Bank insider Cheryl Knight is the new CEO and president of Santa Clara Valley Bank, the firm said Nov. 17.
Knight joined the Santa Paula-based bank in October 2010 as a chief credit officer and senior vice president. She also held the position of chief operating officer when she was named CEO.
Before joining Santa Clara, Knight was with Montecito Bank & Trust and First California Bank. She has held several management positions at other financial institutions, including Union Bank and Wells Fargo and worked at Deloitte & Touche as a financial management consultant. She has lived in Ventura for more than 13 years and is a director of the California Reinvestment Corp., a nonprofit that finances financing low- and moderate-income housing in the area.
Former Santa Clara CEO Michael Hause resigned from the bank in July to take a management position with avocado marketer Calavo Growers.
The bank ended last year $568,000 in the red, but has earned $384,000 through the first nine months of this year. With $132.5 million in assets as of March 2011 and two branches in the region, it is one of the smaller banks based in the Tri-Counties.
