Washington, DC, Feb. 13, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Washington, DC – City First Bank of DC is extremely pleased to announce several exceptional new board and executive team appointments:  The Honorable Marie C. Johns, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors; Mr. Buwa Binitie, Board Director; Ms. Shannan Herbert, Executive Vice President, Chief Credit Officer; Mr. Tom Nida, Executive Vice President, CFBC Market Executive; and Mr. Michael Huang, Senior Vice President, Director of Finance.

“The last several years have seen robust growth at City First Bank.  Adding this level of leadership to our already very talented team allows us to better serve our clients and community.” says City First Bank President and CEO Brian E. Argrett. “As the District’s only commercial bank solely dedicated to community development finance, our talented leadership team members help us to equitably advance our communities - be it from financing small businesses that are creating jobs, to supporting entrepreneurs adding affordable homes, or to assisting critical nonprofits in better serving our communities through increased capacity. We are delighted to have them on board.”

The Honorable Marie C. Johns, Chairwoman of the Board

City First Bank is privileged to announce the election of Marie C. Johns as the new Chairwoman of City First’s Board of Directors.  Initially, elected to the board in 2013, Ms. Johns has over 30 years of leadership in business, civic and government service with a focus in the areas of telecommunications, education and economic development. Among her many accomplishments, Ms. Johns formerly served as President of Verizon Washington, was appointed by President Obama in 2009 to serve as Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, and is the immediate past Chair of the DC Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Johns currently serves as Managing Member of Leftwich LLC, and succeeds Mr. Cantwell F. Muckenfuss, who served as Chairman of the Board from 2007.  Ms. Johns holds B.S. and M.P.A. degrees from Indiana University.

Mr. Buwa Binitie, Director

City First Bank is also honored to welcome Buwa Binitie as a new member of its Board of Directors.  A long time City First partner, Mr. Binitie is the Founder and Managing Principal of Dantes Partners. At Dante Partners, he and his team have closed over $750 million of unconventional real estate transactions that utilize low-income tax credits, tax-exempt bonds and various other forms of alternative financing that have led to the creation of over 2,100 units of workforce and affordable housing. Mr. Binitie serves as Chairman of the DC Housing Finance Agency and as a director for the District of Columbia Building Industry Association.  Mr. Binitie holds a B.S. from New York University and a M.S. in Real Estate Development from Johns Hopkins University.

City First is also extremely pleased to announce new leadership team appointments with the addition of Ms. Shannan Herbert as Chief Credit Officer; Mr. Tom Nida as a CFBC Market Executive; and Mr. Michael Huang as Director of Finance.   Their short biographies follow:

Shannan Herbert joins City First as Executive Vice President, Chief Credit Officer and with over 20 years of commercial credit, credit team leadership, and financial services experience.  Shannan comes to City First from United Bank where she served as Senior Vice President and Director of Loan Review with oversight responsibility for a $13-billion portfolio.   She has also served as Vice President and Credit Officer reviewing and analyzing transactions ranging from $2 million to $50 million at United Bank, and earlier as the Commercial Credit Team Lead at the National Cooperative Bank.   Shannan is a board member of Beacon House in NE Washington, and graduated cum laude with a B.B.A. in Finance from Howard University, and holds a M.B.A. from Loyola University Maryland.

Thomas A. Nida joins City First as Executive Vice President, CFBC Market Executive assisting in the areas of business development and new customer acquisition across City First while supporting our overall strategies in community development finance. Tom is well known and deeply respected in DC’s banking, nonprofit and community development finance spheres.  After an accomplished career as a noted local banking executive with various regional and national banks, recently including the DC Regional Executive at John Marshall Bank and the DC Market President for United Bank, Tom returns to City First having originally served as City First Bank’s first dedicated commercial lender in 1999. Tom currently serves on numerous community and civic boards including chairing the Charter Schools Development Corporation and previously chaired the DC Public Charter School board.  Tom graduated from the University of Wisconsin Bank Administration Institute.

Michael Huang joins City First as Senior Vice President, Director of Finance with extensive experience in audit and finance.  Michael joins City First from Revere Bank where he served as Senior Vice President, Finance and previously, FVCbank where he served as its Senior Vice President and Controller. With more than 20 years’ experience, Michael has an impressive background with growing and successful regional community banks and public accounting firms, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he began his career as an auditor. Michael is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (B.S., Microbiology) and the University of Maryland College Park (B.S., Accounting).

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ABOUT CITY FIRST – City First is an impact driven commercial community development finance provider comprised of a nationally chartered commercial bank (City First Bank, which also manages a New Market Tax Credit Program) and its holding company CFBanc Corporation (CFBC); and several nonprofits (City First Enterprises, City First Homes, and City First Foundation) related by common board members and management, operating as a unified organization with a focused vision, strategy, and management system toward servicing low to moderate income communities.  Since its founding, City First has channeled over $1.2 Billion in mission lending where it’s needed most. City First Bank is headquartered in Washington, D.C. on the historic U Street Corridor.

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Gloria Nauden City First Bank 202-243-7116 gnauden@cityfirstbank.com