Metro Phoenix Bank is comprised of a dynamic team of established local business owners, executive officers, and experienced bankers. Our team's blend of expertise enables us to have a comprehensive understanding of the commercial and real estate market in the metro Phoenix area. This understanding, coupled with MPB's clear vision and commitment to serving the metro Phoenix area, is the driving force behind our success.

James R. Barrons has approximately 30 years of diversified financial management experience. Since 1985, Mr. Barrons has directed his own financial management and investment advisory firm, providing services to high net worth individuals and professional athletes.

An entrepreneur, Mr. Barrons also owns the majority interest in an outdoor billboard manufacturing company, an outdoor advertising company, and a diversified investment company. Mr. Barrons, together with his partners, has developed a number of hotel properties in Southern California and currently holds an ownership position in several residential communities, office buildings and has built several custom homes for resale in his developments. An active investor in land throughout Arizona, Mr. Barrons has participated in the entitlement and planning process of numerous residential, commercial, and mixed use developments throughout the community.

After graduating from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Mr. Barrons went on to become a certified public accountant while working for the international accounting firm of Touche Ross and Company. Mr. Barrons then went into corporate management as the Vice President of Columbia Pictures Communications that eventually was acquired by Coca Cola Company. Before establishing his firm, Mr. Barrons worked with a well-diversified investment company with interest in real estate and media properties.

John S. Bentley is the owner and operator of Bentley and Associates, a commercial real estate investment company that started in 1987. The origin of his company was accelerated by the opportunities to purchase real estate from the RTC and FDIC during the late 80's and early 90's. Over the course of the past twenty years, Bentley and Associates has invested in over $800 million in real estate projects as the lead principal, or as an investor. Bentley and Associates has owned, developed, redeveloped and constructed multi-family, retail, office and industrial projects throughout Arizona and the southwest. Currently Mr. Bentley's company has over $500 million in real estate projects active for 2007.

Mr. Bentley is very active in the Phoenix metropolitan community; he is a founding member of Sol Devils and is an active Youth Basketball Coach, as well as an Assistant Varsity Basketball Coach at Alhambra High School. He is a native to Arizona and continues to live with his family in Phoenix.

Mr. Bentley holds a B.S. in Finance from Arizona State University.

Gene Chandler is a senior level financial professional with extensive "hands-on" banking experience which includes operations, administration, lending and branch management. His 42 years of banking experience includes leadership roles such as CEO/President, an operational role such as the CFO/Controller, a lending and loan management role, and the start-up of three new banks.

Mr. Chandler served as the Vice President at Stearns Bank of Arizona where he was responsible for overall operations of the bank. Additional prior CFO/Controller and operational experience came from work with BankUSA from 2001-2005, 1st National Bank of Arizona 2000-2001, Republic National Bank/Community First National Bank 1995-2000, First American National Bank 1992-1995, Fountain Bank 1991, Independent National Bank 1984-1990, and First National Bank & Trust 1970-1978. He is very experienced in bank operations, operational compliance, the development and implementation of budgets, policies, and procedures.

Mr. Chandler served as the President and a Director of First National Bank and Trust of Monticello, Indiana and of Farmers and Merchants Bank in Buckeye, Arizona from 1978 to 1982 where he guided overall bank administration.

During his six year stint at Independent National Bank, Mr. Chandler served as the Senior Loan Officer on three different occasions. Mr. Chandler’s other lending experience comes from managing a $23 million dollar loan portfolio of indirect loans while at Republic National Bank and in commercial, real estate, and consumer lending at First National Bank & Trust in Plainfield, Indiana prior to being promoted to Cashier at both banks.

Mr. Chandler’s education culminated with the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin, but also has been augmented by AIB training courses and ongoing education as part of his bank management roles.

David Duncan joined Metro Phoenix Bank as a Director in 2007. Mr. Duncan received his Juris Doctor with Honors from The George Washington University Law School in 2005, where he was a Managing Editor of the International Law Review. Having received his Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from the College of the Holy Cross in 2000, Mr. Duncan began his legal career working as a case manager for Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City. During law school Mr. Duncan had the honor of working at the Department of Justice, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the White House. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Duncan worked in the civil litigation department of Marquis & Aurbach in Las Vegas, where he focused on real estate litigation. Mr. Duncan is currently the Vice President of Asset Management at Templeton Development Corporation in Las Vegas, where he is involved in commercial real estate development. Mr. Duncan is originally from Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Brad Franklin has approximately 10 years of real estate investment and private lending experience. He is currently the Vice President of Hilton Financial Corporation (HFC).

Additionally, Mr. Franklin is the Managing Member and sole owner of both Franklin Properties, L.L.C. and Franklin Management Group, L.L.C. Franklin Properties, L.L.C is an active real estate investment company while Franklin Management Group, L.L.C. performs consulting management services to interrelated entities for real estate planning and/or development projects.

Mr. Franklin, with various partners, has stayed actively invested in land, single family, multi-family, and commercial properties throughout Arizona and Utah. He has successfully completed the entitlement, planning and development process of a number of residential, commercial and multi-family projects in Arizona.

Mr. Franklin has also been a member of the Young Leaders Group of the Urban Land Institute since 2004.

Steve Haggard has a successful and comprehensive commercial banking background, and has been involved in the executive management of several Phoenix area commercial banks. Most recently Mr. Haggard was involved at the “ground level” organization of De Novo institution, Arizona Bank & Trust, which began operations in 2003. Mr. Haggard was the Executive Vice President/Senior Loan Officer and was responsible for the development, implementation and risk management oversight of all lending functions of the bank. Mr. Haggard was heavily involved in all executive management decisions, which included: strategic planning, asset/liability management, regulatory compliance, deposit generation and human resource issues. Although not a member of the Board of Directors, Mr. Haggard was an attendee at all bank board, and director’s loan committee meetings.

Additionally, he was successful in the identification and employment of the majority of the commercial lending, loan processing and cash management staff of the bank, while maintaining overhead below budget.

As the catalyst behind much of the bank’s commercial loan and deposit growth, Mr. Haggard helped facilitate the rapid success of the De Novo institution. Within 18 months of operation, the bank exceeded $100MM in total assets and achieved month-to-month profitability, while maintaining a strong credit quality. Mr. Haggard was the “driver” behind much of the business development activity of the bank.

Prior to his tenure with Arizona Bank & Trust, Mr. Haggard was employed by Mesa Bank as a Vice President of commercial lending, beginning in 2001. Mesa Bank, a community bank located in Mesa, Arizona was an emerging commercial bank that saw improvement in its earnings during his tenure. Additionally, the credit quality was maintained at a very high level. Responsibilities included business development and commercial lending within the Phoenix Metropolitan area. As the business development and a senior commercial lending officer, he was responsible for the promotion, development and safety & soundness of the bank’s loan portfolio.

Between 1994 and 2001, Mr. Haggard was involved in senior management of Rocky Mountain Bank, a community bank located in Chandler, Arizona that was considered to be a “turn-around” project. Mr. Haggard had numerous responsibilities during his seven year employment with the bank, including the position of Chief Credit Officer. Under Mr. Haggard’s management of the loan department, the bank successfully grew the loan portfolio from $9MM to $93MM. His tenure with that Bank culminated with the management of seven commercial loan officers, five loan processors and nine branches and the highest CAMEL rating available. Administrative responsibilities included strategic planning & budgeting for that Bank, development and implementation of lending policies and procedures, the recruitment, training and supervision of the lending personnel, establishment of pricing guidelines for products and services offered, and the identification of new markets and products. Mr. Haggard was a regular attendee of the Board Meetings, acting as the spokesperson for all lending issues pertaining to the Bank. During different stages of his tenure with Rocky Mountain Bank, Mr. Haggard held positions that included Loan Review Officer, Compliance Officer, and CRA Officer. As the Compliance and CRA Officer, he was responsible for the Bank’s compliance with federal regulations and disseminated regulatory information throughout that Bank as it became published. As the Loan Review Officer, he was responsible for the integrity of loan ratings assigned to the credits.

Mr. Haggard has spent his entire professional career in the commercial banking industry. Initially employed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Division of Supervision, Steve spent his first two years as a bank examiner in Kansas City Region of the FDIC, subsequently transferring to Phoenix, Arizona in 1992. Participating in numerous safety & soundness, compliance, trust and EDP examinations, Steve achieved his “Commissioned Bank Examiner” status with the FDIC in 1993.

Mr. Haggard is a 1989 graduate from the University of Iowa, with a Bachelor of Business. Administration Degree. A Major and Minor were obtained in Finance and Economics respectively.

Mr. Haggard has demonstrated success in all of the prerequisite responsibilities and duties necessary to serve as the President & Chief Executive Officer of Metro Phoenix Bank. He is a results-oriented, decisive leader that has substantial direct executive management experience in driving sound growth in de novo, emerging, and “turn-around” community banks. He has 17 years of extensive experience as a “complete” commercial banker in the community banking industry, and has 14 years of intensive business development experience in the Phoenix marketplace.

Jack W. Hilton has been a professional real estate investor since 1980. He is currently the President/Owner of Hilton Financial Corporation (HFC), and is the General Partner of the Hilton Equity Group. These two entities, which are real estate investment companies, comprise the majority of Jack Hilton's net worth.

Hilton Financial Corporation (HFC) is an Arizona Corporation, which has funded private money "bridge" loans since 1990. HFC is a licensed mortgage lender, specializing in originating private money real estate loans. HFC provides timely bridge real estate loans for the acquisition of real estate, and for the construction/development of real estate projects. These projects will primarily be located in Arizona, Hawaii, Utah, and on a case-by-case basis in other locations in the United States. HFC places these loans, once funded, with private investors who want to earn an above market interest rate on a well-secured deed of trust. By providing quick response funding at reasonable prices to borrowers, and well-secured deeds of trust to private investors, HFC has earned a reputation for exemplary performance.

Jack Hilton is a former Director/Chairman of Rocky Mountain Bank (AZ), which was sold on January 31, 2001.

Lori R. Jones is a part of upper level management with the Salt River Project (SRP) and is currently responsible for managing design and construction efforts for SRP-driven distribution system expansions and customer-driven capital improvement projects. Her career profile with SRP has included construction management, facilities management, sales management and customer service. She previously managed SRP's relationships with the top 500 mining, manufacturing and electronics customers for the company. Mrs. Jones was selected by SRP to represent the company as an â“executive on loan” to Fresh Start Women's Foundation, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to the empowerment of women and for women who are facing transitional needs in their lives. Mrs. Jones led and facilitated design, construction, building facilitation; writing requests for proposals and securing contracts for the Jewell McFarland Lewis Fresh Start Women's Resource Center, which opened in October 2002. This was the first comprehensive, self-help facility for women in the country.

In addition to her position with SRP, Mrs. Jones and her husband co-founded CDC Pools, Inc., one of Arizona's largest pool renovation companies. This company has been in operation since the early 1990s and has established itself as an industry leader in integrity, quality, and volume.

Mrs. Jones graduated Arizona State University with her Bachelor of Science degree in Interior Architecture, and is currently pursuing her MBA in Management. In addition to her continued involvement with Fresh Start Women's Foundation, Mrs. Jones has been very active in other community organizations. She served as a board member for the Arizona Association of Industries; served as a board volunteer for the Red Mountain National Little League; participates in the SRP Volunteer and Booster programs; is a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America; is a member of the Association of Energy Engineers; and was a previous member of the Building Owners & Managers Association (BOMA).

Matt McLaughlin began working for Bank One in 1995 making commercial real estate construction and bridge loans to national and regional development companies. Between 1997 and 2000 Mr. McLaughlin worked for a large Phoenix-based real estate development company with responsibility for a portfolio of retail and office buildings totaling in excess of 1,000,000 square feet in Arizona and Canada. In 1998, Mr. McLaughlin founded his own company (Gallatin Corporation) to invest in the development and management of residential master-planned communities, retail shopping centers, hotel, apartment, condominium and office projects in Arizona, California, and Nevada. From 2002 thru 2006 Mr. McLaughlin was responsible for the finance and transactional functions of a $1 billion asset real estate company which entitled, developed and sold approximately 5,000 home lots per year. Mr. McLaughlin was instrumental in the start-up of Scottsdale-based production homebuilder Elite Communities and managed its land acquisition and finance departments thru achieving 500 home closings at year-end 2005.

Mr. McLaughlin holds a B.S. in Finance and Minor in Economics from the University of Montana and an M.B.A. from The Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Kevin B. O'Regan who will serve as Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer, has over 25 years of lending and leasing experience and over 30 years experience in the banking/finance industry. His overall experience is highlighted with a five-year tenure as Chief Credit Officer with Arizona Bank in Tucson Arizona, a seven-year tenure as Market President/Manager for Commercial Federal Bank/Bank of the West, and an eight-year tenure as a Senior Banking Officer with Bank of America/Security Pacific/The Arizona Bank.

Mr. O'Regan's lending experience includes a mix of management and production in Phoenix and Tucson Arizona. The overall experience is from a mix of medium to large banks with experience managing loan portfolios of up to $700 million. Strong lending compliance skills and CRA administration are complemented by substantial training in these areas. Mr. O'Regan also brings financial and operational experience from five years as a National Accounts AVP for The Arizona Bank and another three years as a Customer Finance Manager with Harris Corporation.

Mr. O'Regan's educational background includes Pacific Coast Bankers School (1990), Thunderbird Graduate School (MBA 1976), Arizona State University (BS 1975), and the ABA National School of Compliance/Graduate School of Compliance. Mr. O'Regan is very active in the community and has received several awards for his service. He also was with US Army Intelligence for three years.

Michael R. Stephenson is the owner of Stephenson Capital Resources, a private investment company that primarily provides venture capital and private money loans to businesses and real estate developers in Arizona. Although a large portion of Stephenson Capital's portfolio is now real estate related, Michael Stephenson brings over 43 years of ownership and managerial experience in business and industry. Stephenson's business fundamentals and disciplines were developed over a span of 18 years, while working in upper management of major appliance companies such as Raytheon and McGraw Edison. Mr. Stephenson was directly responsible for sales and marketing activities for each of the companies.

Thereafter, Stephenson took the position of Division President for Wickes Companies, Inc. Under Mr. Stephenson's tenure, the kitchen cabinet division of Wickes grew to the 5th largest kitchen cabinet manufacturer in the nation. Over the past twenty years, Mr. Stephenson has been an active entrepreneur, starting and successfully selling five manufacturing companies in the plastic, foam, vinyl, and store fixture industries. The largest company, which sold store fixtures to Walgreens and JC Penny, generated sales volume in excess of $60 million. In addition to the five companies noted above, Mr. Stephenson was also an active business consultant and investor in a number of other start-up, turnaround, and acquisition business ventures.