The Wave: Employee Spotlight - James Gerber & Lucho Vivanco

TASI (®) Bank is an uncommon bank. For customers, that’s a big advantage because they are working with a financial institution that prides itself in combining strict underwriting with an attitude of finding ways to fund businesses that are often turned down by larger, more traditional banks because as they have been told, “we don’t work with your kind of companies.”

“We’re very much of the mindset that says, ‘we can do that,’” says James Gerber, an assistant vice president/ commercial underwriter. His sentiments are echoed by Lucho Vivanco, also an assistant vice president/ commercial underwriter for the San Francisco-based division of Bank of Guam ®.

While both joined TASI Bank within the last year, both were attracted for similar reasons. “During my interviews, I could see that what was wanted was someone who knew the underwriting discipline and was also able to go beyond the normal process to find products that would help customers succeed.”

TASI Bank president Dave Joves puts it succinctly. “We want mavericks, people who understand the regulations and understand how to find innovative approaches. At the same time, we want to become not simply someone’s banker. We want to be a trusted adviser in all the financial aspects of their business.”

Adds Gerber, “It’s a fast-paced and complex environment and has allowed me to utilize my experience and skills immediately. I work on transactions from beginning to end.”

As a Minority Depository Institution (MDI), TASI Bank has access to special federally funded programs that afford benefits to customers. TASI Bank also qualified for additional PPP funding for customers when the original program ran out of funds.

“The SBA set aside additional PPP funding for MDIs to be able to provide their customers,” said Joves, who noted that TASI Bank had provided customers more than $21MM in PPP forgivable PPP loans.

TASI Bank, uncommon with the mindset of a maverick and the financial expertise to be a trusted advisor. It’s what attracted Gerber and Vivanco and what its customers bank on.