Mission Valley Bank and Bancorp announced the recent appointment of Jeffrey Watson as Executive Vice President Strategic Initiatives.

"We are pleased to announce that Jeffrey Watson has joined the Mission Valley Bank team as Executive Vice President—Strategic Initiatives," said Tamara Gurney, President and CEO. "Jeff is a seasoned banking professional who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in all areas of bank management and operations. The first initiative Jeff will oversee for Mission Valley Bank is the launch of a new Loan Production Office located in the South Bay area of Los Angeles."  

The office is slated to open Oct. 1, 2018 located at 21515 Hawthorne Blvd. in Torrance.

"While this is a relatively new market for Mission Valley Bank, Jeff's knowledge of the South Bay, along with his industry and business connections, will be instrumental in the success of this new endeavor. Under his leadership, we expect to grow client relationships throughout the region that will assist in increasing both loans and deposits while also helping to diversify the Bank's existing loan portfolio with additional C & I and asset-based lending products." Gurney added.

Gurney continued, "I am also very pleased to announce that Thomas Fiebig has joined us as Vice President and Manager of the new Loan Production Office. Tom shares a long and distinguished career in commercial lending throughout the region and we are fortunate to have his energy and expertise for the launch of this office."

Gurney concluded, "The addition of these two skilled banking professionals to our team is part of the Bank's long term strategy of continuing to build our infrastructure in order to address the ongoing challenges facing our industry with new and rapidly evolving technologies and competition.  We view this as an investment in the Bank's future – and while it will increase expenses in the short term, we are confident that it will provide long term benefits and opportunities for the Bank and its shareholders."