Nathan Rogge

The new President calls his bank “a de novo with baggage.” He’s Nathan Rogge, formerly a lender with the San Diego offices of Wells Fargo and San Francisco-based First Republic Bank. The de novo is First Business Bank, formerly Ramona National Bank, which never gained traction perched between Poway and Julian.

The baggage is a consent order from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which called the Ramona bank poorly managed. “Ramona is a great community,” Rogge says, “but if you’re trying to be a regional business bank, you can’t do it in Ramona. The bank didn’t really take off.” The bank tried to straddle the business and consumer sectors without success. “Among other things, Ramona did trailer loans for dune buggies,” Rogge adds.

The result didn’t sit well with federal regulators who slapped a 10 article consent order on Ramona, and Rogge was among the new executive team brought in to sort it all out.

So Rogge and Co. moved the headquarters to a San Diego locale, changed the name, and refocused the lending effort to that of a “private business bank.”

“San Diego is a small business, middle-market community, and the number of Fortune 500 companies is surprisingly small, given the city’s size,” Rogge explains. “There are between 150,000 and 200,000 small businesses under $50 million in gross revenue.” Although there are plenty of lenders to serve them, with new competitors still opening their doors, Rogge doesn’t view the competition as prohibitive.

“There’s more than one dental group in San Diego,” he says. “That doesn’t mean there can’t be others.” Rogge will be seeking out small businesses that are “underserved” in their relationships with larger banks.

SBA lending is a staple in the local business market, but Rogge says the 7(a) operating expense business is spread out among about 80 lenders and is over-served, and says the 504 owner occupied market seems like a better bet.

Rogge started his banking career in Sacramento with Wells in 1991, after finding that his agriculture degree from UC Davis couldn’t get him an interview with ConAgra.

He says he can’t comment on the status of the bank’s progress with the OCC, but adds, “All indications are that the bank is moving in the right direction.”