FirstBank CEO Jim Reuter will retire from the Lakewood, Colo.-based bank in late March. President Kevin Classen has been named CEO, while Chief Digital Officer Kelly Kaminskas was named chief operating officer. Both appointments are effective March 29.
Reuter, who was appointed CEO of the $28.2 billion bank in 2017, has spent 37 years with the organization. He will remain on the board of FirstBank’s holding company, FirstBank Holding Co. “With Kevin Classen and Kelly Kaminskas at the helm, FirstBank will continue to be a top-performing institution,” Reuter added. “As for me, I’m looking forward to pursuing other interests and taking on new challenges.”
FirstBank Board Chair John Ikard credited Reuter for leading the bank’s diversity initiatives and IT work, along with steering the company through the pandemic. “We’re confident the incoming CEO and COO will continue to take FirstBank in the right direction and uphold its values of doing what’s right for customers, communities and employees,” Ikard said.
Classen, who joined FirstBank in 1998, has served in leadership roles in numerous Colorado markets. He also helped lead the company’s 2007 expansion into Arizona. Classen was president of FirstBank’s Boulder market before his election as FirstBank president in 2020. Kaminskas joined FirstBank two decades ago. She was president of retail and digital banking before being named chief digital officer in 2022.