Torrey Pines Bank Announces New Senior Vice President for the North Coastal Market and Promotions for Key Executives in Carmel Valley and La Mesa
Torrey Pines Bank, a leading, local commercial bank with offices throughout San Diego County and a subsidiary of Western Alliance Bancorporation, has announced several key promotions and a new hire.


SAN DIEGO, CA, July 02, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Torrey Pines Bank, a leading, local commercial bank with offices throughout San Diego County and a subsidiary of Western Alliance Bancorporation, has announced the promotions of John Massab to Chief Credit Officer, Crystal Watkins to Senior Vice President, Director of Marketing & CRA Administration and Chris Grassa to Vice President, Manager of the Bank's office in La Mesa. The bank is also announcing the hiring of North County banking veteran Don Schempp as Senior Vice President for the North Coastal Market.

John Massab, Torrey Pines Bank's Executive Vice President and regional manager, with over 25 years experience in banking, has been promoted to Chief Credit Officer. In his new role, Massab is responsible for advising the Bank's Executive Management team on its asset and credit portfolio; his primary objective is to oversee the Bank's credit culture and bring sophisticated credit measurement and control systems to an expanding banking franchise. Mr. Massab has been managing commercial credits for most of his professional career and will draw from his strong background in overseeing the Bank's credit portfolio, which currently holds a mere 0.35 basis points in non-performing assets as a percent of total assets as of March 31, 2009.

Mr. Massab received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Management from Albion College and a Graduate degree from Pacific Coast Banking School, University of Washington, Seattle, WA in 2002.

Director of Marketing & CRA (Community Reinvestment Act) Administration, Crystal Watkins, who has been with Torrey Pines Bank since 2005, was promoted to Senior Vice President, Director of Marketing & CRA Administration. Watkins brings more than 15 years of sales and marketing experience in the banking industry, including developing marketing strategy for high net worth commercial and consumer markets, retail segments and underserved communities. Watkins holds a Master of Science degree in marketing communications from Illinois Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a Board Member for the highly regarded Old Globe Theatre.

Chris Grassa, commercial lender with Torrey Pines Bank, is being promoted to Vice President and Manager of the Bank's East County market. Grassa is a founding officer of Torrey Pines Bank and has been in the commercial banking industry since 1998. His experience spans commercial lines of credit and term loans, owner occupied (SBA & conventional) and commercial non-owner occupied real estate, residential and commercial construction loans, as well as deposit services with a niche in serving the construction industry. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, with a minor in economics from San Diego State University. He is also a Board Member with the Construction Financial Management Association and is active with St. Madeline's Sophie's Center.

The new Senior Vice President for the North Coastal Market, Don Schempp brings 35 years banking experience in the area to Torrey Pines Bank. In his most recent role he served as a senior executive for Temecula Valley Bank. He has been a member of the San Diego Chapter of Robert Morris & Associates banking association since 1976 and was a Tri-City Hospital Board Member for 15 years and currently serves on board of directors for the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce.

"At Torrey Pines Bank, we recognized the importance of hiring and promoting individuals who share our philosophy and background of putting customers first and directly serving the needs of small and medium sized San Diego businesses. Our executives are long-term residents with a vested interest in the community. We are proud to have built a strong, cohesive, long-standing team - that has been a key driver in our success, and I congratulate John, Crystal, Chris and Don, as we continue to strive for the continued success for our banking customers for years to come," said Gary Cady, CEO of Torrey Pines Bank.

Torrey Pines Bank is committed to offering local business customers big bank products and services delivered with community bank personal attention, innovation and educational programs. The bank has seven offices conveniently located throughout San Diego County. With its Waltree program customers can receive increased FDIC insurance up to $1,250,000—five times more insurance coverage than that offered at a standalone bank. In 2008, the bank gave over $200,000 in grants to charitable causes, and its employees contributed over a thousand hours of volunteer activities. Recently it was one of only eight recipients to be awarded an Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant by the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, as a first-time applicant to the program providing grants to assist in the purchase, construction, or rehabilitation of housing for lower-income households.


About Torrey Pines Bank
Torrey Pines Bank is a California-chartered commercial bank, providing commercial and financial services to small and middle market businesses, and personal banking services to proprietors, employees, executives and consumers desiring a personal banking relationship. Information about products and services offered by Torrey Pines Bank is available at www.torreypinesbank.com.

About Western Alliance Bancorporation
Western Alliance Bancorporation is the parent company of Bank of Nevada, Alliance Bank of Arizona, Torrey Pines Bank, Alta Alliance Bank, First Independent Bank, WAL Leasing, Miller/Russell & Associates, Shine Investments and Premier Trust. These dynamic companies provide a broad array of banking, leasing, trust, investment, and mortgage services to clients in Nevada, Arizona, California and Colorado. Staffed with experienced financial professionals, these organizations deliver a broader product array and larger credit capacity than community banks, yet are empowered to be more responsive to customers' needs than larger institutions. Additional investor information can be accessed on the Investor Relations page of the company's website, www.westernalliancebancorp.com.

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