Climate First Bank, the world’s first community bank founded to fight the climate crisis, welcomed 12 employees to its growing Florida team, bringing the total employee count to 48. The hires are across all job functions, including human resources, project management, commercial and residential mortgage lending, banking and IT support.
This expansion ultimately enables the bank to bring on more mission-aligned business, encourage customers to make climate-friendly decisions and further its mission to achieve carbon drawdown.
“This is an all-star team of people,” Climate First Bank Founder and CEO Ken LaRoe said. “Everyone is here because they truly believe in how we’re able to be a force for good through finance. As people and investors care more about the environment, our growth is a tangible example of how being mission-aligned improves talent acquisition.
- Jim Hennessey, SVP, Residential Mortgage Manager – With 20 years of experience in mortgage financing, Hennessey will build out and grow Climate First bank’s residential mortgage division.
- Edina Remic, VP, Branch Manager – Seasoned bank branch manager Remic will manage the day-to-day operations of the St. Petersburg headquarters location.
- Kaina Norelia, VP, Branch Manager – In Central Florida, Norelia will manage the bank’s upcoming Mount Dora location.
- Michael Madison, VP, SBA Lender – Madison will support the growth of SBA 7a and 504 loans across the bank’s footprint.
- Jennifer Biegemeier, VP, Director of HR and Board Secretary – Recently promoted, Biegemeier will recruit and retain top-tier talent, create onboarding and training processes and manage employee relationships. For the Board, she will handle administrative duties like maintaining meeting minutes, scheduling meetings and more.
- Abraham Perez Serra, AVP, Network Engineer – In this role, Abraham supports installation, monitoring, and optimization of the bank’s network hardware, software, and communication links.
- Adam Webman, Project Manager – Webman will plan and oversee projects for the bank in areas including sales support, marketing, new product development, and community relations. Additionally, he will work closely with Chief of Staff Chris Cucci on strategic growth initiatives for the bank.
- Orpha Kjolstad, Senior Commercial Lending Assistant – With nearly 13 years of banking experience, Kjolstad will support the commercial banking team in delivering exceptional service to customers and managing loans through the closing process. She previously worked with CEO Ken LaRoe at First GREEN Bank.
- Tyler Linn, VP, Commercial Lender – In this role, Linn will develop new commercial relationships for the bank in the St. Petersburg/Tampa market.
- Irma Walsh, Universal Banker III – Based in St. Petersburg, Walsh’s customer-facing banking role includes opening new accounts and other teller transactions.
- Heather Osborne, Digital Banker – Osborne brings nine years of local banking experience to her new role with the digital banking team. She will assist customers who utilize digital banking channels with needs related to solar lending, new accounts, and account servicing.
- Cameron Butcher, IT Support Administrator – Butcher’s role includes maintaining the bank’s computer networks. As part of this role, he manages network security as bank employees work remotely.
Climate First Bank is a values-based community bank offering a complete, full-service portfolio of simple and easy-to-use traditional banking products. In addition to offering standard banking services, the company places a special emphasis on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and businesses committed to sustainability. Eco-conscious customers will find dedicated loan options for solar photovoltaic (PV), energy retrofits and infrastructure to help combat the climate crisis.
