Santa Cruz County Bank Hires Chief Credit Officer George Harrison

News provided by

Jun 16, 2015, 04:19 ET

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., June 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Santa Cruz County Bank (OTCQX: SCZC), a locally owned and operated full-service bank headquartered in Santa Cruz County, today announced that George Harrison will join the bank as Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer, effective June 29, 2015.

Mr. Harrison has an extensive education and professional background in finance, lending, credit administration and credit review, and has held the title of Chief Credit Officer and Senior Loan Officer for four independent community banks in Northern California. Most recently, Mr. Harrison was Chief Credit Officer for the past three years for Community Bank of the Bay where he managed a diverse loan portfolio, supervised lending and credit administration, and supervised the growth of the loan portfolio while maintaining strong credit quality.

Early in his career, with Lloyds Bank, Mr. Harrison established himself as a proficient manager and commercial banker with strong analytical skills. With his comprehensive understanding of banking, he accelerated through the ranks in commercial banking and lending to Chief Credit Officer. Later, he established Restuccia & Harrison, the largest independent loan review and examination firm in Northern California, where he spent ten years as a General Partner. In 2010, he launched The Harrison Financial Group, an independent bank consulting and credit review firm.

Mr. Harrison obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Utah, and graduated from the American Bankers Association's Commercial Lending Graduate School in Oklahoma.

Commenting on his new appointment, Mr. Harrison stated, "Santa Cruz County Bank is well known in the industry as a well-managed bank with exceptional financial ratings. I am extremely honored to become part of the bank's experienced management team and I look forward to contributing to its continued growth and future successes."

The Bank's Chief Credit Officer position was previously held by Geoffrey Loftus, who passed away in January 2015.

David Heald, President and CEO commented, "George brings a well-rounded and unique background to the Chief Credit Officer position though his experience managing credit portfolios and his understanding of credit risk and loan reviews. His experience managing credit portfolios and understanding of credit risk are essential to his position and are an asset to the Bank. We look forward to George's contributions to the Bank and to our community in the years ahead."

Mr. Harrison will be based out of the Bank's Administrative headquarters in Santa Cruz.

ABOUT SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BANK
Santa Cruz County Bank, founded in 2004, is a locally owned and operated community bank with offices located in Aptos, Capitola, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley and Watsonville. The Bank offers a variety of competitive deposit and lending solutions for businesses and individuals, including business loans and lines of credit, commercial real estate finance, agricultural loans, SBA and USDA government guaranteed loans, credit cards, merchant services, remote deposit capture, and online services, including bill payment and cash management. The Bank's SBA Department has been recognized as a top SBA lender in Santa Cruz County for 7a and 504 loans for the past nine years.

American Banker Magazine ranked Santa Cruz County Bank in its "Top Performing 200 Community Banks and Thrifts in the United States" based upon 3-year average return on equity - 115^th out of 851 institutions. The Findley Reports designated the Bank as one of eleven "Exceptional Banks" in California in 2012, and as a Super Premier Performing Bank for the past five consecutive years. Santa Cruz County Bank has also received the designation of 4-Star "Excellent" and a 5-Star "Superior" by Bauer Financial Reports, Inc., for its financial performance every quarter since 2007. For more information, visit www.sccountybank.com.

Santa Cruz County Bank's common stock is listed Over the Counter (OTCQB) under the stock symbol SCZC.

This release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties may include but are not necessarily limited to fluctuations in interest rates, inflation, government regulations and general economic conditions, and competition within the business areas in which the Bank is conducting its operations, including the real estate market in California and other factors beyond the Bank's control. Such risks and uncertainties could cause results for subsequent interim periods or for the entire year to differ materially from those indicated. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which reflect management's view only as of the date hereof. The Bank undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140121/MM50029LOGO

SOURCE Santa Cruz County Bank