Jim Burgess

Asked to assess 1st Pacific Bank’s prospects, Chief Financial Officer Jim Burgess reaches back to the 1980s for a Timbuk 3 song: “The Future’s So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades.”

Burgess’ optimism is understandable: the UTC-headquartered bank is working to acquire the $125 million Landmark Bank. With 1st Pacific’s asset base approaching $320 million, the combined bank is expected to exceed $450 million in assets by the time the Landmark acquisition closes in July.

La Jolla-based Landmark’s group of bankers is a good fit with 1st Pacific’s culture and orientation, says Burgess, and their offices are on the beach side of Interstate 5 for depositors who don’t want to cross the freeway. The Landmark acquisition will grow 1st Pacific’s branch network to seven offices, including its East County branch opened last year in El Cajon.

“Landmark fits well within our current footprint,” Burgess says.

Burgess has been with 1st Pacific since the bank was in its formation stages in 1999. A CPA, he was CFO at Rancho Vista National Bank, which was subsequently purchased by Bank of Commerce, which itself was bought out by US Bank.

In January, Burgess helped organize 1st Pacific’s new holding company, 1st Pacific Bancorp. Burgess says having a holding company offers certain accounting advantages, and also comes in handy if the holding company decides it wants to operate banks with different regional identities, although Burgess notes Landmark’s branches will become 1st Pacific offices.

While Burgess is involved in how loans are accounted for, he is not part of the loan approval process per se; a board committee decides on loans above a certain amount; other loans go before an executive committee of CEO Vince Siciliano, Chief Credit Officer Rick Revier, and Chief Operating Officer Larry Prosi.

Burgess says his chief ambition in the future is to help 1st Pacific grow to become the largest locally owned bank in the county.