Community bank elevates exec to president

TAMPA — Pilot Bank's board of directors named Rita Lowman the bank's new president, succeeding Roy Hellwege, who will continue to hold the title of CEO and acting chairman of the board.

Lowman is a 40-year veteran of the banking industry. She served as the state administration executive for Bank of America prior to moving into the community banking sector.

Before she joined Piloty as COO, Lowman was executive vice president and COO of C1 Bank, helping to take the bank public prior to its sale. She is also the chairwoman of the Florida Bankers Association.

According to a press release, Lowman will oversee the day-to-day growth and operations of the bank, while Hellwege will continue to work closely with the bank's directors and investors and will be focused on the bank's strategic growth.

“Rita has a proven track record in the industry and has added great value to Pilot Bank the past year,” Hellwege states in the release.

Pilot Bank's board also named Shawn Hannan senior lender and executive vice president. Hannan joined Pilot Bank in 2010 as chief credit officer and has 20 years of experience in the credit and lending field.