Banking & Finance  June 27, 2019

First National taps Adams exec to lead Colorado market

FORT COLLINS —  Nathan Ewert has been hired as First National Bank’s new Colorado market president. He will take over from retiring market president Mark Driscoll.

Ewert, formerly Adams Bank & Trust’s consumer bank president, “will be responsible for managing the growth and quality of the bank’s commercial loan portfolio in Colorado, while having broader responsibilities for the overall business development, growth and relationship management efforts within the Wholesale Banking Group at First National Bank,” according to a bank news release.

Ewert has already assumed the market president title but Driscoll will remain with Omaha-based First National through the end of the year to help ensure a smooth transition.

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Nathan Ewert

“It’s a great position to be in,” Ewert told BizWest. “If you’ve been around in the Northern Colorado banking environment, you know [Driscoll] and how great his reputation is.”

Rather than “just being thrown into the fire, I’ve got [Driscoll] here to help me navigate customer relationships and getting introduced to areas and people I might not be familiar with,” he said. “It will really help accelerate my ability to get acclimated to the role having him side-by-side with me for the next six months.”

Ewert’s new role will be a bit different than his past position at Adams, where his main focus was consumer banking.

“Now I’m more focused on commercial and business lending,” he said. “But ultimately the job is about getting out and building relationships in the community.”

Ewert is chairman-elect of the board of the Colorado Bankers Association and chairman of the association’s Government Affairs Committee. He will remain on the board as he assumes his new position with First National.

On the Government Affairs Committee, Ewert was tasked with “vetting a lot of the key banking issues that come out of [the Colorado State] Capitol before the come before the [bankers association]. We take a deep dive into legislative and government issues and articulate a recommended position” for the association to take.

“We are very fortunate to have an individual like [Ewert], who brings so much valuable experience to the role, receiving the baton from Driscoll, an established and highly-regarded leader in our Colorado market,” First National Bank’s senior vice president of commercial banking Timothy Struthers said in a prepared statement.

First Nation has 24 branches along the Front Range, including locations in Fort Collins, Erie, Boulder, Greeley, Loveland, Longmont and Broomfield.

Colorado is First National’s second largest market behind Nebraska. Ewert said he expects Colorado market to continue to grow and “potentially become the bank’s number one market.”

“There will be continued strategic, organic and smart growth in Northern Colorado,” an area that “is one of the bank’s key priorities,” he said.

FORT COLLINS —  Nathan Ewert has been hired as First National Bank’s new Colorado market president. He will take over from retiring market president Mark Driscoll.

Ewert, formerly Adams Bank & Trust’s consumer bank president, “will be responsible for managing the growth and quality of the bank’s commercial loan portfolio in Colorado, while having broader responsibilities for the overall business development, growth and relationship management efforts within the Wholesale Banking Group at First National Bank,” according to a bank news release.

Ewert has already assumed the market president title but Driscoll will remain with Omaha-based First…

Christopher Wood
Christopher Wood is editor and publisher of BizWest, a regional business journal covering Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer and Weld counties. Wood co-founded the Northern Colorado Business Report in 1995 and served as publisher of the Boulder County Business Report until the two publications were merged to form BizWest in 2014. From 1990 to 1995, Wood served as reporter and managing editor of the Denver Business Journal. He is a Marine Corps veteran and a graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder. He has won numerous awards from the Colorado Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and the Alliance of Area Business Publishers.
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