Enterprise Bank & Trust made some leadership changes to its Los Angeles team, promoting Maria Hunter – formerly a senior vice president – to L.A. market president, a role previously held by John Murillo who was just named community bank president.

Murillo’s position is new to the bank and designed to reflect Enterprise’s continued focus on L.A. expansion which was jumpstarted by the bank’s 2021 acquisition of First Choice Bancorp which enhanced the bank’s California branch and market presence.

Hunter and Murillo will work together to continue those expansion efforts in Southern California in their respective roles with Hunter’s focus on growing the bank’s team and talent and Murillo’s on growing deposits and local civic involvement.

Key to maintaining and attracting business banking relationships here is a “collaborative approach with clients” and holding high “the human element of banking,” Murillo said.

L.A.’s economic landscape aligns well with the bank’s business centric model.

“There’s a lot of opportunities we know here in small businesses, family-owned businesses, privately held companies, and that’s really where we thrive,” Murillo said.

Increasing its presence

Total loans for Enterprise’s Los Angeles market were $1.6 billion at the end of 2024, up 5.5% since 2022. A priority for driving Enterprise’s growth has been “people and technology,” Hunter said.

“We’re making sure that we have the right technology, the robust systems to be there for our clients,” Hunter said. “Then it’s about finding people who have that consultative approach. We’re growing on the treasury management side and the private banking side, finding those relationship managers who have the connections in the community, who have the client base here and who understand the market.”

Another key aspect is having a team that understands the various industries that are prominent here, such as aerospace, logistics, ports and nonprofits, Hunter said.

“It’s not just the philanthropic aspect of nonprofits, but it’s also the opportunity to be able to support them with knowledge and resources in terms of treasury management, cash management services and also to be able to bridge some of the gaps that many times happen with nonprofit organizations, (including) … funding and reimbursement structures,” Murillo said.

Hunter also stressed that in addition to the cash management side of Enterprise’s services – for all types of businesses it serves – the bank also advises clients on growth strategy, at times providing working capital or equipment financing.

The L.A. market duo also appreciates the freedom to tailor business plans and services to each individual client, informed by Southern California’s local economy.

“One of our key differentiating factors in the market and how we’ve been growing is by having the ability to make decisions locally, having the autonomy as we’re talking to customers (demonstrating that) we can be there for you. We can get behind your strategy,” Hunter said.