Professional Business Bank Appoints John Nerland President and Chief Banking Officer

    COSTA MESA, CA, May 10, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Professional Business Bank, a Pasadena, Calif.-based bank that serves business customers in the San Gabriel Valley, has appointed John Nerland as president and chief banking officer. In this role, Nerland will direct all banking activities of Professional Business Bank and oversee all day-to-day operations.

"John Nerland is an experienced bank executive with a 25-year background in lending and business banking, and his experience is an asset to our senior management team," said Mary Lynn Lenz, chief executive officer of Professional Business Bank. "Our clients will benefit from his business banking expertise and his commitment to local and personalized banking services."

Nerland joins Professional Business Bank having most recently served as president and CEO for Simi Valley, Calif.-based California Oaks State Bank. While there, Nerland was instrumental in creating and executing policies that enhanced the credit quality of the bank's loan portfolio. He increased the value and size of California Oaks State Bank and led the successful $17.3 million sale of the bank to California United Bank in December 2010.

He also previously served as executive vice president with NorthBay Bancorp, a two-bank holding company with assets of $650 million that was sold in 2007 for $156 million to Umpqua Bank. His began his banking career with WestAmerica Bank.

Mary Lynn Lenz continues as CEO of Professional Business Bank, leading the senior management team and directing bank strategy. She has led the turnaround of the bank over the past two years, including the 2010 merger with Pasadena's California General Bank that has infused new capital into the bank with which to better serve businesses throughout the San Gabriel Valley.

"Our recent merger has enabled us to strengthen our balance sheet and continue meeting our commitment to helping grow area businesses," said Lenz. "We've gone through a major rebranding of the bank and launched a new ad campaign that showcases our most important asset: our customers."

Professional Business Bank specializes in serving small to mid-sized businesses, including medical professionals, professional service providers such as attorneys and CPAs, manufacturing firms and various other regional businesses. The bank prides itself on the high level of personal attention and accessibility it provides to its business banking customers.

"We continue to offer a one-to-one, personal approach with our customers that we feel is unmatched by the larger banks," said Lenz.

The bank operates from four branches located in both central and east Pasadena, Montebello and Glendale.

About Professional Business Bank
Professional Business Bank is a full-service financial institution that serves the personal and business banking needs of Southern California businesses with an emphasis on companies located throughout the San Gabriel Valley and the Tri-Cities area. Professional Business Bank was founded in 2001.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain matters discussed in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and are subject to the safe harbors created by that Act. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They often include the words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate," or words of similar meaning, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," or "may." Forward-looking statements describe future plans, strategies and expectations. Forward-looking statements are based on currently available information, expectations, assumptions, projections, and management's judgment about Professional Business Bank ("PBB"), the banking industry and general economic conditions. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, nor should they be relied upon as representing management's views as of any subsequent date. Future events are difficult to predict, and the expectations described above are necessarily subject to risk and uncertainty that may cause actual results to differ materially and adversely.

Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from those presented, either expressed or implied, in this press release. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to: PBB's ability to successfully execute its business plans and achieve its objectives; changes in general economic, real estate and financial market conditions, either nationally or locally in areas in which PBB conducts its operations; changes in interest rates; new litigation or changes in existing litigation; future credit loss experience; increased competitive challenges and expanding product and pricing pressures among financial institutions; legislation or regulatory changes which adversely affect PBB's operations or business; loss of key personnel; changes in accounting policies or procedures as may be required by the Financial Accounting Standards Board or other regulatory agencies; and the ability to satisfy requirements related to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other regulation on internal control.

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