COBANK, a cooperative financial institution serving agribusinesses and rural infrastructure providers across the U.S., reported that chief executive officer Bob Engel has named Mary McBride as bank president and Thomas Halverson as chief banking officer.
CoBank became a larger and more complex business after its merger with U.S. AgBank last year (Feedstuffs, Jan. 9, 2012), Engel said, and given "the increased breadth and scope of our operations," the two appointments will improve "the overall capacity of our executive team."
McBride has served in a number of executive positions at CoBank since 1993, including six years as executive vice president for lending to rural infrastructure customers, as chief operating officer in 2009-10 and, most recently, as chief banking officer. She will report to Engel and will be responsible for all of the bank's lending units.
Halverson comes to CoBank after more than 15 years at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., where he served in a number of executive positions, most recently as managing director and chief of staff for Goldman Sachs Bank USA. He previously was principal credit officer for country risk at the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development.
Halverson will report to McBride and will be responsible for the bank's portfolio of loans to customers in all 50 states, as well as the bank's agricultural export finance division.
McBride's and Halverson's appointments are effective July 1.
CoBank, headquartered in Denver, Colo., is a $92 billion bank serving vital industries across rural America, including Farm Credit Administration member banks.
Volume:85 Issue:17