Mission Valley Bank Hands CEO Role to SBA Lender Brian Carlson
Founder Tamara Gurney, who started the Sun Valley bank in 2001, remains chief executive of holding company Mission Valley Bancorp and executive chair of the bank.
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Mission Valley Bank, the only commercial bank headquartered in California's San Fernando Valley, replaced founder Tamara Gurney as chief executive with Brian Carlson on August 26, the Los Angeles Business Journal reported.
Gurney started the Sun Valley bank in 2001 after the sale of American Pacific State Bank, where she had worked for 20 years, to City National Bank. The bank now holds $800 million in assets and serves more than 6,000 clients from four offices in Sun Valley, Santa Clarita, Burbank and Arcadia.
Gurney is not leaving the company. She remains chief executive and a director of publicly traded holding company Mission Valley Bancorp and will serve as executive chair and director of the bank's board. She said she will focus on a merchant credit card processing venture with independent sales organization Select Bank Card, expected to begin processing by the end of the year, and on the bank's investment in Bank Tech Ventures.
Carlson joined the bank in 2021 and has run its Small Business Administration lending, including the holding company's Total SBA affiliate. He said he spent his first weeks meeting teams rather than making changes.
Mission Valley reported higher nonaccrual and past-due loans in the first half of the year, which Carlson attributed to a few larger accounts, according to the Business Journal.
Gurney said the board has had "many polite conversations about merging" but has chosen to stay independent.
This story was first reported by Los Angeles Business Journal.
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