Board of Directors

Jim Jones
Chairman of the Board

Mr. Jones is an Executive Vice President of Carpenter & Company, an Irvine-based investment banking and consulting firm that has served the community banking industry for over 35 years.  Mr. Jones is also a Founding Partner of Carpenter Fund Manager GP, LLC, the general Partner of the Carpenter Community BancFund.  Mr. Jones joined Carpenter & Company in 1992.  Since 1997 he has had direct day-to-day management of the firm’s de novo banking practice, acting as the firm’s senior liaison to bankers, regulators, and other professionals in the process of creating new community banks.  During that time Mr. Jones has personally overseen the opening of 60 such banks.  From 1992 to 1996, Mr. Jones served as Executive Vice President with oversight of all of Carpenter & Company’s real estate asset management operations.  In that capacity, he was responsible for the collection and restructuring of non-performing loans and real estate assets as a third party manager for the RTC and the FDIC and as a joint venture partner with the FDIC. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s School of Business Administration, is a licensed California Real Estate Broker, and holds General Securities Principal and Representative licenses.

 

David Blankenhorn

David T. Blankenhorn was the Chairman and Interim CEO of California General Bank from July 2010 and stayed on as Chairman through the merger with Professional Business Bank until May 2011. Mr. Blankenhorn has over 40 years of banking experience, including serving as the President and Chief Executive Officer and as a Director of several Southern California banks. Mr. Blankenhorn served as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a Director of American Security Bank, Newport Beach, California, from 2004 through his retirement in 2010. Previously, from 1999 to 2004, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a Director of Harbor National Bank, Newport Beach, California. From 1994 to 1999 Mr. Blankenhorn served as Executive Vice President of First Security Bank of California, N.A. (formerly California State Bank). During 1994 Mr. Blankenhorn served as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a Director of Bank of Newport and from 1991 to 1994, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer and as a Director of Commercial Center Bank. From 1987 to 1990, Mr. Blankenhorn served as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a Director of American Interstate Bank. Mr. Blankenhorn serves on the Board of Directors of Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County and also serves on the Board of Directors of Boy Scouts of America, Orange County Council, and also serves as this organization's Treasurer and as a member of its Executive Committee.

 

Charles D. Kenny

Mr. Kenny has been engaged in commercial banking for over 35 years. Most recently he served as Chief Executive Officer and a Director of The Private Bank of California, based in Century City. Mr. Kenny joined the bank during its formation stage in 2005 and led the bank during its first three years of successful operations. For the eight years immediately preceding his involvement with The Private Bank of California, Mr. Kenny was President, Chief Operating Officer, and a member of the Board of Directors of Manufacturers Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. In his capacity as President, he had full responsibility for managing the day-to-day activities of this 10-branch, $1.8 billion commercial bank. During his career, Mr. Kenny has held executive roles at City National Bank, Union Bank of California, and First Interstate Bank. He served as the Chief Administrative Officer of the 1994 World Cup Organizing Committee in Los Angeles.  Mr. Kenny has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the California Bankers Association (CBA). He presently serves on the CBA’s Corporate Governance Task Force and as a Director of Plaza Bank in Irvine. Mr. Kenny is a frequent speaker for the California Bankers Association and is currently a commentator for the CBA’s Director Certification Program.

 

Marshall Laitsch

Mr. Laitsch is a seasoned Southern California banking veteran, with over 38 years of experience in community and regional banking in Southern California. He has held numerous executive level positions throughout his banking career, including serving as President and Board Director for the Southern California Division of Placer Sierra Bank. Placer Sierra Bank was the entity into which Belvedere Capital Partners consolidated several community banks; it was then sold to Wells Fargo in 2007. Prior to Placer Sierra, Mr. Laitsch was President and Chief Executive Officer of Sunwest Bank in Orange County, and Pacific Century Bank in Los Angeles and Orange County.

Mr. Laitsch graduated from Western Illinois University with a BBA and MBA in finance.

 

 

 

Mary Lynn D. Lenz
President and Chief Executive Officer

Mary Lynn D. Lenz assumed her position as President and Chief Executive Officer of Professional Business Bank in March 2009, and since that time has led Professional Business Bank through an historic national banking crisis, overseen the strategic repositioning of the bank's lending portfolio, and helped to strengthen the bank's financial position through the December 2010 merger with Pasadena-based California General Bank.

Ms. Lenz has more than 35 years of experience in commercial and community banking. Before taking her position at Professional Business Bank, Ms. Lenz served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Massachusetts-based Slade's Ferry Bancorp previous to the bank's acquisition by Independent Bank Corp. in 2008.

Prior to leading Slade's Ferry Bancorp, she was Executive Vice President of retail banking for Citizens Bank of Massachusetts, a wholly-owned subsidiary of $164 billion Royal Bank of Scotland. She also served for 10 years at Cleveland-based Key Corp in a variety of leadership roles in small business banking, mortgage banking, and retail banking.

Mary Lynn Lenz is a recognized and active leader in retail and commercial banking with a long track record of success in the banking industry. She is a two-time recipient of the "25 Most Powerful Women in Banking Award" by US Banker magazine. Ms. Lenz has served as Board Director and Legislative Committee Chairman for the Massachusetts Bankers Association as well as a delegate to the Community Bankers Council for the American Bankers Association.

Ms. Lenz has an established commitment to community leadership and philanthropic involvement. She currently sits on the Board of Directors, finance and marketing committees of Pasadena-based nonprofit MUSE/IQUE. She was Founder and Chairman for Leadership SouthCoast, a program that cultivates business and civic leadership throughout the South Coast region of Massachusetts. Ms. Lenz has held Board Director and Campaign Chair positions with United Way of Fall River and the American Heart Association. She has also served as Advisory Board Chairman to the Gabelli School of Business at Roger Williams University and as investment committee member for the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Foundation. Her service also includes a position as Board Trustee for Saint Anne's Hospital in Fall River, and a volunteer and fundraiser for the Harris Foundation for Eating Disorders.

Recent accolades include finalist for the Pasadena Star-News "Jewels of Pasadena, Women of Distinction" Awards, nomination for the LA Business Journal 2011 "Women Making a Difference" Awards, a feature in Pasadena Magazine's "Women in Business" edition, and THE Magazine's annual edition of "50 Fabulous Women of Influence".

Ms. Lenz attended the State University of New York, College of Buffalo, and Niagara University.

 

Beatrice Proo

Ms. Proo was a founding member of the Board of Pacific Western National Bank in Pico Rivera, California. She served as Chair of that bank from November 1980, when the bank opened, until January 2002, when it was acquired by First Community Bancorp. Ms. Proo is a former teacher and school principal and also was President of Fast Hauling Service, a trucking company which she operated with her late husband, Ed Mora. She was elected to the El Rancho Unified School District Board in 1982 and served nine years before being elected to the Pico Rivera City Council in 1992. She was re-elected in 1997 and 2001 and served three terms as Mayor of Pico Rivera. Ms. Proo holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles, where she also earned lifetime teaching credentials.

Ms. Proo serves as a member of the Metrolink Board of Directors and an MTA representative to the Los Angeles-San Diego Rail Corridor Agency. In 2001 she was elected to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). She also was a Regional Council member of the Southern California Association of Governments for 13 years, as well as past President and Executive Board Member of the Gateway Council of Governments and the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority. She also served as President of the League of California Cities, Los Angeles. She was a Director on the board of California General Bank and is now a Director on the board of Professional Business Bank.

Louis P. Smaldino

Louis P. Smaldino was the President and owner from 1971-2010 of Mr. S Liquor Marts, Inc., a chain of liquor/convenience stores located in the San Gabriel Valley and throughout Southern California.  He is also the owner of Gateway Management Company, a real estate and development company in Whittier, California, since 1986. From 1965 to 1969 Mr. Smaldino, a CPA, worked for the accounting firm of Ernst & Ernst. Mr. Smaldino served as a Director from 1975 to 1982, and as President of the Temple City Chamber of Commerce during the period 1981 to 1982. Mr. Smaldino received his Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in accounting from Loyola University, Los Angeles, and his MBA in Finance from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Mr. Smaldino is a Director of Professional Business Bank.

 

 

Michael A. Zoeller

Michael A. Zoeller has been the President and co-owner of Riedon, Inc., an Alhambra, California-based manufacturer of resistor products, since 1996. Previously, Mr. Zoeller served in multiple capacities at Imo Industries, Inc., both in Pasadena and San Dimas, California, serving from 1986 to 1995 as Vice President and General Manager of Imo Industries CEC Instruments Division, and from 1983 to 1986 as the Division Manager of Engineering. Prior to 1983, Mr. Zoeller held a number of technical and management positions at Bell and Howell, E&IG in Pasadena, and with Bell Telephone Laboratories in Holmdale, New Jersey. Mr. Zoeller received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a Master’s degree in Engineering and a PhD from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. Mr. Zoeller is a director of Professional Business Bank.