FirstBank Florida Makes Five Key Hires

Front Row (L-R): Elsie Alvarez, Calixto Garcia-Velez, Yuleisy Montalvo Back Row (L-R): Carlos Halley, Cesar Suzarra, Mahesh Pattabhiraman, Jose Marrero, Carlos de Varona, T. George Harduvel.

MIAMI—FirstBank Florida hired five top professionals to work in its commercial banking department. The bank attracted the talent from regional and national banking institutions, beefing up its platform in South Florida. All told, the new hires bring more than 100 years of commercial banking, lending and relationship experience to FirstBank Florida.

“South Florida has long relied on the economies of real estate development, and the requirements and complexities for commercial lending in this sector has increased,” Calixto Garcia-Velez, regional executive and executive vice president of FirstBank Florida, tells GlobeSt.com. “We’ve seen remarkable success within our Commercial Banking Department—particularly in lending—within the past four years following the Great Recession, as it has evolved into a robust business segment that continues to grow.”