Pub. 16 2019 Issue 1

Issue 1 • 2019 21 O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S - H E L P I N G N E W M E X I C O R E A L I Z E D R E A M S BANK NEWS Puntch, CEO of Roswell-Based Pioneer Bank, Announces Retirement Stephen Puntch, chief executive officer at Ros - well-based Pioneer Bank, recently announced his retirement, effective at the end of March. He joined Pi - oneer Bank in 1984 as assistant vice president, and was responsible for mortgage loan secondary marketing. He was promoted to vice president in 1985 and then se- nior vice president in 1987 as his responsibilities were expanded to include management of the growing mort - gage-backed securities investment portfolio of Pioneer Bank. In 2003, Puntch was elected as a voting member of the board and in 2004 was promoted to executive vice president. In April 2017, he was appointed to his current position of chief executive officer. Puntch was instrumental in positioning Pioneer Bank favorably during a financial crisis, having rec - ognized in advance the speculative economic condi- tions that resulted in the economic recession in 2008. During his career with Pioneer Bank, the company has grown in assets from $185 million in 1984 to more than $800 million today. After receiving his BBA degree from Texas Chris - tian University, Puntch began his financial services career in 1980 as an investment advisor with Bache Halsey Stuart and Shields, a New York-based invest - ment banking firm. Puntch currently serves as a board member of the New Mexico Bankers Association and will con - tinue to serves as a voting member on the board of Pioneer Bank. Wells Fargo Partners with Chamber of Commerce on Business Accelerator Wells Fargo Bank, the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce and Latin American Chamber of Commerce of Charlotte, North Carolina, are work- ing together to create a program that will accelerate Hispanic small businesses’ growth. The program, Avanzar, will be a year-long accelerator for Hispanic businesses to grow. Avanzar, a Spanish word, trans- lates to advance. “Hispanic entrepreneurs start businesses three times faster than the average American, but they often face undue barriers to scaling,” says Ramiro Cavazos, U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) president and CEO. “If Hispanic-owned businesses scaled as quickly as non-minority-owned businesses, there would be an additional $1.47 trillion dollars in the American economy.” Beginning in March, the Hispano Chamber of Commerce and Latin American Chamber of Com- merce is bringing together 10 Hispanic businesses for an educational program to scale and build their businesses each month for eight months. “Avanzar will allow businesses in our community to grow and thrive through this dynamic and beneficial opportunity,” says Ernie C’debaca, Hispano Chamber of Commerce president and CEO. The criteria to qualify for the program include being a Hispanic business that generates between $100,000 and $1 million in revenue, having an estab- lished business with at least three years of operations, being a business that is “scalable into an enterprise” and be in good membership standing with the local chamber of commerce. “The growth of these [businesses] and the impact they will have on their communities is something we are proud to support,” says Rob Myers, small-busi - ness strategy leader at Wells Fargo. “Programs like this are excellent examples of why we value our longstanding collaborations with USHCC and local business owners in Albuquerque, Charlotte and across the country.” Pioneer Bank Employees Earn Points of Light Presidential Volunteer Service Awards In 2017, Roswell-based Pioneer Bank launched its Team Pioneer program, making the company and its employees available to nonprofits in need of financial and/or volunteer help. Since then, many Team Pioneer members have gotten involved in assisting local community organizations. The bank reports that its employees volunteered more than 2,600 hours of their own time in 2018 in support of community endeavors.