CHESAPEAKE, Va., April 24, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Monarch Financial Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:MNRK), the parent company of Monarch Bank and Monarch Mortgage, today announced five executive level promotions. "We continue to refine our organizational structure to ensure we deliver on our mission of providing exceptional service," stated Brad E. Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer. "These individuals are all top performing bankers, and this change will better support our growth initiatives and ensure our risks are properly managed."
Steven C. Layden to Business Banking President. Steve will provide leadership to all our market presidents as they focus on growing and servicing our business banking relationships throughout our banking footprint. He previously served as the Virginia Beach Market President.
Charles "Chas" M. Wright to Virginia Beach Market President. Chas previously served as a managing member of our Commercial Real Estate Finance team, and will now lead the Virginia Beach business banking team from their new location at Oceans31. He is a resident of Virginia Beach.
Barry A. Mathias to Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer. Mr. Mathias, who is a founding member of the Monarch Bank team, originally served as the company's chief credit and banking officer. He previously served as the Chesapeake Market President. This strategic move will allow Mr. Andrew Lock, currently our Chief Risk and Credit Officer, to focus on enterprise risk management and compliance.
David K. Ropp to Chesapeake Market President. Mr. Ropp previously served as a senior commercial banker on the Chesapeake City team, and has over 30 years of experience as a banker in Hampton Roads. He is a resident of Chesapeake.
Jeremy R. Starkey to Commercial Real Estate Finance President. Mr. Starkey previously served as a leader and managing member of the Commercial Real Estate Finance team, which focuses on the banking needs of professional commercial real estate owners and developers. This promotion more accurately denotes his leadership position.
Monarch Financial Holdings, Inc. is the one-bank holding company for Monarch Bank. Monarch Bank is a community bank with eleven banking offices in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg, Virginia. OBX Bank, a division of Monarch Bank, operates offices in Kitty Hawk and Nags Head, North Carolina. Monarch Mortgage and our affiliated mortgage companies have thirty offices with locations in Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, and South Carolina. Our subsidiaries/ divisions include Monarch Bank, Monarch Bank Private Wealth (Private banking, trust and investments), OBX Bank, Monarch Mortgage (secondary mortgage origination), Coastal Home Mortgage, LLC (secondary mortgage origination), Regional Home Mortgage, LLC (secondary mortgage origination), Monarch Home Funding, LLC (secondary mortgage origination), Monarch Investments (investment and insurance solutions), Real Estate Security Agency, LLC (title agency) and Monarch Capital, LLC (commercial mortgage brokerage). The shares of common stock of Monarch Financial Holdings, Inc. are publicly traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol MNRK.