Why Plaza Bank?

An idea that began with a conversation between two regional business leaders, Mike Sotelo and Cris Guillen, has become the most widely anticipated Bank launch in the Pacific Northwest.

Founded in early 2006, with a vision of creating the leading commercial bank in the Pacific Northwest, Plaza Bank’s story quickly captured the hearts and passion of some of the region’s leading business minds. From Jack Creighton, former CEO of Weyerhaeuser and United Airlines, to former Seattle Mariner Edgar Martinez, and nationally acclaimed salon operator Gene Juárez, the story of a bank founded to bring “class to the mass” simply could not be contained.

The passion that attracted the Bank founders was evident when the Bank’s senior management team was recruited, and the Bank attracted a team of leading bankers, each with an average of 31 years of experience. Armed with significant experience in both national and community banks, the founders and management team have created a foundation for success.

Now launching with locations in Downtown Seattle and Kent Station, Kent’s award winning retail village, the Bank continues to evoke strong interest from potential team members, customers, and the press.

Led by CEO Carlos Guangorena, Plaza Bank was successful in securing its initial capital in record time. Plaza Bank’s focus on delivering a highly differentiated level of service to the general commercial market, combined with the founders’ understanding of the Latino marketplace will position Plaza Bank as the bank with the right strategy, the right people and the right time!

Executive Management Team

Carlos Guangorena, President and Chief Executive Officer of Plaza Bank. A highly qualified, well respected and experienced banking executive, Carlos is a former Wells Fargo Senior Vice President. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President at Pacific Northwest Bank in charge of Corporate Banking and a Senior Corporate Lender for US Bank in Seattle. Carlos’ banking career spans 29 years covering markets in both Southern California and in Seattle. Born in Mexico in the town of Delicias, Chihuahua, Carlos immigrated to the United States with his family in 1957. Carlos completed his MBA in Accounting and Finance from the Graduate School of Management at UCLA. He is fluent in Spanish and active in the Latino community. For the past 15 years, he has worked frequently as a tutor in P.I.P.E. (Partners in Public Education), a program for elementary children at Maple School in Seattle. Since 1982, Carlos and his family have resided in Seattle.

Agustin R. (Gus) Ayala, EVP and Chief Financial Officer. Gus has been in commercial banking for 35 years serving in various management positions. Born in Panama City, Republic of Panama, he grew up in California where he spent the majority of his banking career with independent community banks. A 1980 graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington, Gus seized the opportunity to relocate to the Northwest in 1997. He joined the Bank of Bellingham as CFO and participated in its reorganization into a bank holding company. Subsequent to its merger with Horizon Bank, Gus served as Senior Vice President of Operations until his retirement in August 2005.

Carol J. Simpson, EVP and Chief Administrative Officer. Carol brings 33 years of commercial banking experience to Plaza Bank, most recently as Vice President and Area Retail Leader for KeyBank in Snohomish County. Previously, she served as Senior Vice President of Branch Banking Operations at Pacific Northwest Bank in Seattle, Manager of Retail and Consumer Banking at Central Valley Community Bank in Clovis, California and at US Bank in various Retail and Commercial Banking managerial positions. A graduate of Eastern Washington University, Carol earned her Bachelors Degree in Psychology.

Frank M. Buty, EVP and Chief Lending Officer. A Seattle native, Frank has been involved in the commercial and retail banking industry for 33 years. He is a graduate of Seattle University where he received his BA in Business Administration. He is also a graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School the Northwest Agricultural Credit Schooland has earned a Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) credential. He recently left First Sound Bank in Seattle where he was a Senior Vice President and Lending Officer. Prior experience includes 31 years with U.S. Bank in various senior managerial roles including Senior Vice President and Manager of the East King County Business Banking Team, Relationship Manager in both Bellevue and Seattle markets, Manager of the Consumer Credit Center in Seattle, Yakima Loan Center and Branch Manager at Ephrata. Frank is a retired Senior Officer of the U.S. Army and the Washington Army National Guard and is a veteran of Desert Storm.

Board of Directors

Carlos Guangorena was born in Delicias, Chihuaha, Mexico and immigrated to the United States in 1957. Carlos’ banking career has spanned 29 years in a variety of roles ranging from credit card department supervisor at Bank of America in California to Vice President and Senior Corporate Lender at US Bank in Seattle. Most recently, Carlos was Senior Vice President of Wells Fargo Bank in Seattle, WA. Carlos completed his MBA in Accounting and Finance from the Graduate School of Management at UCLA. Since 1982, he has lived and worked in Seattle with his family.
Carlos is fluent in Spanish and active in the Latino community. For the past 15 years, he has worked frequently as a tutor in P.I.P.E. (Partners in Public Education), a program for elementary children at Maple School in Seattle.

Michael E. Sotelo is the founder and President of Approach Management Services (Approach) and Vice President of W.G. Clark Construction Co. Mike is a nationally-recognized safety professional and a highly visible force in the Northwest construction community. Mike’s personal focus and commitment to safety led to the founding of Approach. Approach was named one of the Puget Sound Business Journal’s 100 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in Washington State 2003 and was selected as a finalist on Washington CEO Magazine’s 2003, 2004, and 2005 Best Companies To Work For List.

Mike works tirelessly with the Latino Community and in January 2006, he will begin a 1-year term as President of the Washington State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Cristóbal Guillen was born in Mexico and immigrated to the United States in 1961 to work in the fields of the Skagit Valley. He attended the University of Washington and subsequently worked in the Seattle securities industry for 17 years. His career in investments began in brokerage back-office management and included NASDAQ stock trading and institutional municipal bond sales. Cris was also an assistant corporate bond trader at Ragen, MacKenzie and for the last several years he has worked as an Independent Financial Consultant.

Cris currently serves as the Executive Director of the Washington State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and hopes to make a significant contribution to the dynamic growth of the vibrant Hispanic business community.

Pedro Celis was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico. He holds an engineering degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology (ITESM) and M. Math and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo, Canada. Pedro has a life long passion for education and technology and has worked as a Professor of Computer Science and as a software engineer for several companies. He is currently a Software Architect in the SQL Server group in Microsoft. He is the holder of over 10 U.S. Patents.

Pedro is also very active in serving in the community. He is a board member of the Professional Latino Association of the Northwest and is currently the Chairman of the Washington State Chapter of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly.

Steve Johnson has been a Principal at Raskin Partners since 2003 and has over 25 years of real estate experience. Steve’s expertise spans from the largest Landlord listings in the downtown-Seattle-market to Tenant Representation assignments of over 200,000-square-feet each. His emphasis on and success with professional Tenant Representation have tenants and corporations asking for his representation across the West Coast and throughout the United States.

Steve is an alumnus of the University of Washington and holds a degree in Economics. He also has post-graduate education in Commercial Real Estate from the University of Washington.

Gene Juárez is the Founder of Seattle’s most distinguished salon and he is one of the most successful salon owners in the nation. Gene has created eight full–service salons and spas, two cosmetology schools, and the Gene Juárez Advanced Training Salon. In 1980, he was selected for membership in Intercoiffure America, an exclusive group of 200 of the most prestigious salons in the United States and Canada. With a strong belief in giving back to the community that supports you, Gene is known as a major contributor to several community organizations. Some of these organizations include the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Boy Scouts of America, Big Brothers and Poncho.

Robert Flowers is the chairman of the KCTS-TV board of directors and a retired Washington Mutual Senior Vice President. As senior vice president of Community Lending and Investment for Washington Mutual, Bob was responsible for managing community lending and investment efforts, as well as external initiatives, on a bank-wide level. Bob joined Washington Mutual in 1970 as a loan representative and went on to hold key positions in Washington Mutual’s Commercial Real Estate, Community Consumer Affairs, and Marketing areas. Prior to his appointment as senior vice president of Community Lending and Investment, he was president of Washington Mutual’s Community Investment and Development division.

George Armendariz is currently Vice President of Brunswick Corporation/US Marine. In this capacity, George is responsible for global management of multi-brand marketing programs and sales in excess of USD 100 million in recreational consumer goods. Prior to this, he acted as Managing Director of European Sales and Marketing in Frankfurt, Germany, where he was recognized with the President’s Award for Excellence.

Dr. Priscilla J. Bell was appointed President of Highline Community College July 2000. She was the President of Fulton-Montgomery Community College in New York from 1995-2000 and was a member of Tacoma Community College administrative staff 1978-1995. She holds a Ph.D. from University of Texas, a MS from California State University, Los Angeles, and a BA from Texas Tech University. In Washington State Dr. Bell serves on the Executive Committee of the Washington Association of Community College Presidents; and Chair Elect of the Executive Committee of the Alliance for Corporate Education. She is also a member of the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges Joint Legislative Committee.