the Business First Bank team
Ms. Funari is a Founder and President of Business First Bank. Ms. Funari has more than 28 years of experience in the financial industry. Prior to joining Business First Bank, she served in Executive positions at Santa Barbara Bank & Trust and Bank of New York. Ms. Funari’s education includes a Graduate Degree with honors and exceptional performance in Asset Liability Management and Finance from the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington and University of California, Los Angeles.
Ms. Funari has been dedicated to the Santa Barbara community for over 20 years and serves the community as a volunteer in numerous capacities including - Board Member for the Foundation for Santa Barbara City College, President of the SB Citizen Advisory Council for Continuing Education for Santa Barbara City College, Steering Committee Co-Chair of the South Coast Business & Technology Awards, Past President of the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce; Board Member and Secretary of the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce; Board Member of the Santa Barbara Downtown Organization, Board Member of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project; La Presidenta and Chief Executive Officer of Old Spanish Days-Fiesta, and Board Member of the Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital Foundation. Ms. Funari also serves on the Santa Barbara County Finance Corporation on behalf of the First District.
Tanya is a native of Santa Barbara and a graduate of Santa Barbara High School. She has over 20 years local community banking experience. Ms. Valenzuela is responsible for the growth, development, and customer service at our State Street Branch. She opened the office for Business First Bank and built it to $125.0 million in deposits in less than five years. Ms. Valenzuela excels in management and customer service and has a keen senes for selecting and developing the right team of people. She takes great pride in developing her team through education and creating an atmosphere of high energy, great care, and empowerment. Her passion is to develop an outstanding customer service team to ensure that all customer needs are understood and every time. Tanya is a 2006 graduate of Leadership Santa Barbara County. She has also served as President of the Eastside Optimist Club of Santa Barbara.
Phil Morreale brings extensive banking, risk management, and leadership experience to the organization. Phil is responsible for coordinating and supervising all commercial lending activities in the Santa Barbara area. He will also be responsible for growing and managing a loan portfolio and will oversee all business unit functions relative to profitability, minimizing credit risk, and improving efficiency in line the bank's strategic objectives. Mr. Morreale spent over 24 years working as a Commercial Banker in Santa Barbara. He has an excellent background in both major and community banks - holding key credit, lending, and management positions. Most recently, he spent the last 17 years at Santa Barbara Bank & Trust (a subsidiary of Pacific Capital Bancorp) as their Senior Commercial Lender / Team Leader in the Santa Barbara commercial banking group. Phil graduated from San Diego State University with a B.S. in Business / Finance. He currently serves as the President of the Board of the Children's Creative Project, a non-profit entity that provides arts education programs to over 60,000 elementary school children each year in Santa Barbara County Throughout the year, Phil also serves on various fundraising committees for other non-profit organizations.
Ms. Sanford, a founding member of Business First Bank, has over 30 years of experience in many facets of banking including, lending, investment sales, portfolio management and risk management. As Senior Vice President and Consumer and Small Business Lending Manager Ms. Sanford’s responsibilities include providing consumer lending and small business loans to the bank’s clients to assist in achieving their financial goals.
Ms. Sanford is actively involved in the Santa Barbara community and is currently serving as President and member of the Development and Finance Committees for the Page Youth Center , a non-profit organization providing activities and a safe environment for children and adults, also serving as a Director on the Board of Old Spanish Days for the past 8 years. Ms. Sanford has spent many hours helping non-profit organizations and public schools in their fundraising efforts.
Ms. Ciambrone has been in the banking industry for over 25 years. Before joining Business First Bank, her career involved working as a Private Banker for First Republic Bank, and as the Manager and Vice President for Bank of the West's Wealth Management department in Santa Barbara.
Along with her strong commercial, business, and mortgage experience, Debby is licensed in Series 7 and 63. She graduated from the National Graduate Trust School of the American Bankers Association, held at Northwestern University and was awarded the professional designation of Certified Trust & Financial Advisor (CTFA).
Though new to the Bank, Debby has been a longtime member of many civic and charitable organizations in and around the Santa Barbara County where she is currently involved with the Music Academy of the West’s Planned Giving Committee, the Storyteller’s Planned Giving Committee, and is a member of the Santa Barbara Estate Planning Council and the Santa Barbara Rotary Club.
Barbara Caballero-Muñoz is a founding member of Business First Bank and has more than 20 years of community banking experience. As Vice President and Relationship Manager, Ms. Caballero-Muñoz is responsible for the Consumer Lending Department. Prior to joining Business First Bank, Ms. Caballero-Muñoz worked for Pacific Capital Bancorp (parent company to Santa Barbara Bank & Trust) as the Loan Documentation Manager. Ms. Caballero-Muñoz is a native of Santa Barbara and is active working with Peabody Charter School and Notre Dame School. Ms. Caballero-Muñoz resides in Santa Barbara with her husband and two children.
Tino Muñoz has been an Assistant Vice President and Relationship Manager for Business First Bank since 2005. His primary responsibility as a commercial loan officer is to provide clients with solutions to their small business financing needs. He has served the local community banking industry for the past 18 years. Prior to joining Business First Bank, Muñoz was a Financial Services Officer for First Republic Bank. He also worked for Santa Barbara Bank and Trust in several capacities from Banking Operations to Loan Operations and finally Compliance. Muñoz was born and raised in Santa Barbara and has been active over the years in local youth sports and recreation. He resides in Santa Barbara with his wife and five children.
Everyone with a Business First account is familiar with the vivacious Bibi Moezzi, Relationship Manager at Business First Bank. Her upbeat personality and intellect aren't the only things that have gotten Ms. Moezzi where she is today. After receiving her Chemical Engineering Degree from a private University in Tehran, Iran, Ms. Moezzi headed to the United States where she worked in the loan department of another Santa Barbara banking organization. In March 2003, Ms. Moezzi was recognized with an Extra Step Award from Congresswoman Lois Capps and the Santa Barbara Police Department for going above and beyond the call of duty. Actively involved in the Santa Barbara Community, Ms. Moezzi is on the Board of Directors for Santa Barbara's favorite celebration -- Old Spanish Days Fiesta, as well as serving on the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Barbara and The Milpas Association Board.
Rick brings over 35 years of diverse real estate industry experience, most recently as the Santa Barbara Branch Manager for GMAC Mortgage.
Rick and his wife Carol, who have raised their two children locally, fit well with Business First’s culture of client and community service. Rick is President of Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table, past President of the Santa Barbara Sunrise Rotary Foundation, and has served as a member of the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors Housing Committee and the Santa Barbara School District Bond Oversight Committee.
Mr. Stronks brings over 19 years of local community banking experience to Business First. As Senior Operations Officer for both Business First and its partner Heritage Oaks Bank, Mr. Stronks is responsible for overseeing the growth, integration and development of Business First’s general back-office services, retail sales & relationship management support and electronic banking delivery systems.
Prior to joining Business First, Mr. Stronks worked for Pacific Capital Bancorp (parent company of Santa Barbara Bank and Trust), beginning as a part-time teller and serving as Assistant Central Operations Manager, Manager of Electronic Delivery Services (ATM, ACH, Online Banking, Document Imaging), Manager of Systems Development & Support, IT Project Manager, and Manager of Enterprise Application Services.
Mr. Stronks is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara and holds a degree in Russian Language & Literature and International Political Science. He has studied Russian, French, Spanish, and German. He also has completed his Project Manager Certification through UCSB Extension, and is a 2009 graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School. In addition to his banking career, Mr. Stronks serves on the Site Council for his local elementary school and as a Scout Leader in his boys’ Cub Scout Pack.
As the newest member of the Business First Bank team, Mr. Bieza brings extensive banking, consumer and commercial lending experience. As a Commercial Relationship Manager, Mr. Bieza is responsible for managing the commercial lending portfolio in Santa Barbara.
Over the past 25 years, Mr. Bieza has worked in the banking industry. He spent the last 22 years at Santa Barbara Bank & Trust (a subsidiary of Pacific Capital Bankcorp) and Mid-State / Rabobank as a Commercial Lender.
Mr. Bieza is a graduate of Cal State Long Beach with a B.S. in Business Finance. In addition to his banking career, Mr. Bieza serves as a board member for the United States Boys and Girls Club of Santa Barbara County and a member of the Goleta Boys and Girls Club Community Council. He also serves as a member of Premier Professionals.