Bank With The First Team.

Curtis J. Gabardi
President & CEO

A well respected and experienced regional banking executive, Curt has served in top leadership positions over the past three decades. This rich background led him to start Metropolitan Bank In 2008; it grew steadily with locations in Mississippi, Memphis and Nashville, TN.  Curt was named President and Chief Banking Officer of Renasant Bank following Renasant’s acquisition of Metropolitan Bank in 2017. Curt joined First Commercial May 1 of 2020, and became President & CEO on May 1, 2021.

Pam Ware
President & Chief Operating Officer

Pam began her career with Union Planters Bank in the Retail Leadership Development Program. She spent the majority of her career as the Chief Operations Officer with Metropolitan Bank, focusing on deposit operations, digital banking, loan operations, information technology, vendor management, and compliance. Most recently Pam served as the Director of Operational Process and Efficiencies for Renasant Bank. She joined First Commercial Bank in 2020.

Eric Hanbury
Executive Managing Director & Chief Credit Officer
NMLS #642240

Eric joined First Commercial Bank in 2017 to open our Loan Production Office in Oxford, Mississippi. Until February 2019, he served as Oxford Market President. Eric now serves as First Commercial Bank’s North Mississippi Regional Executive with management responsibilities in the Oxford Market as well as the DeSoto County Market. His previous banking experience includes positions at M&F Bank - Oxford Market President and Chief Credit Officer, as well as Executive Vice President - Corporate Banking at Renasant Bank in the Jackson metro area.

Brian Rippee
Jackson Market President | Chief Private Client Officer
NMLS #595102

Brian has more than 30 years of banking experience. He began his career with Union Planters in 1989, and started his focus on private banking in 1994 with Deposit Guaranty. In 2007 Brian was one of the founding members of Metropolitan Bank, serving as President of Private Client. During the transition of the merger with Metropolitan and Renasant Banks, Brian was named the President of Private Client. Brian joined First Commercial Bank in 2020.

Ruth Eiland
Chief Financial Officer

Melissa Dambro
Chief Talent Officer

Melissa has served in executive administrative support roles for over 25 years, primarily in the banking industry. In 2007, she was one of the founding members of Metropolitan Bank as its Senior Group Administrative Officer and Corporate Secretary. In 2015, she became Metropolitan’s Senior Managing Director of Human Resources. Most recently, she served as the Human Resources Representative for Renasant Bank’s Tennessee and North Mississippi Commercial and Retail Banking Divisions. Melissa received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Technical Writing from the University of Memphis.

Sam Lane
Chief Development Officer
NMLS #535710

Sam has more than 40 years of banking experience which included 17 years with Deposit Guaranty. Sam has been with FCB since its founding in 2000. His emphasis has been in middle market commercial and corporate lending in the Jackson metro area and throughout the state of Mississippi.

Jamie Chustz
Chief Commercial Real Estate Banking Officer
NMLS #2243516

Jamie has nearly 25 years of commercial real estate experience. He was an Asset Manager with Parkway Properties, a publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), for 12 years. After leaving Parkway Properties he owned Highland Group, LLC, providing commercial real estate consulting and brokerage services, and later joined The Mattiace Company as chief operating officer. Most recently Jamie was with BankPlus for approximately six years focusing on commercial real estate lending. He joined First Commercial Bank in September, 2021.

Deonté Sanders
Chief Trust Officer

Deonté joined First Commercial Bank in October of 2018, having previously worked as a Trust Officer at Pinnacle Trust, and as a Trust Account Administrator at Trustmark. Deonté earned his Bachelor of Accounting and his MBA from Belhaven University. Since joining First Commercial Bank, Deonté has provided great depth in our Trust Department, and has developed strong relationships with many of our Trust customers. Effective November 1, 2021 he was promoted to lead the department as Senior Managing Director & Trust Advisor.

Nathan Best
Senior Managing Director
NMLS #1138939

Nathan earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing Communications from the University of Mississippi. His primary responsibilities include servicing commercial loan requests, business development, and credit analysis. Previously Nathan spent six years with Parkway Properties focusing on property management, landlord leasing representation, business development, and construction management. He joined First Commercial Bank in 2013.

Dawson Graves
Managing Director
NMLS #1888242

Dawson joined First Commercial Bank in June of 2015 as a Credit Analyst and now serves as a Loan Officer. Prior to joining First Commercial Bank, Dawson earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from Mississippi State University. Most recently, Dawson earned his MBA from Millsaps College.

Hannah McGraw
Associate Managing Director & Treasury Management Advisor

Hannah will be working directly with our Treasury Management team and our Jackson area Managing Directors, as well as our treasury operations team to support and expand our treasury management offerings in the Jackson market. She joins us with previous Bank experience from both Metropolitan Bank, as well as Triumph Bank in Nashville, TN. At her most recent position at Triumph Bank, she worked in the Private Client division servicing clients in the music industry off Music Row in Nashville. Her dedication to client service, as well as educating clients and prospects about Bank services to ensure that the products and services that they choose are the optimal fit for their needs is her passion.

Hannah grew up the Jackson, MS area – and began her banking journey as a childhood client of First Commercial Bank.

Bryan Nesbit
Senior Managing Director
NMLS #2313977

Bryan has 15 years of commercial and corporate real estate experience. He began his commercial real estate career as a regional manager for Parkway Properties (Jackson, MS/Columbia, SC) and then moved into the banking sector as a vice president in the corporate real estate area for Regions Bank. He next worked with CB Richard Ellis, Inc. for six years. Most recently, Bryan has spent the last three years as the director of facilities and property management for Kerioth Corporation in Ridgeland.

June Owens
Senior Managing Director
NMLS #595100

June began her career as an auditor with KPMG in 1994 and later transitioned to the commercial banking field with Wells Fargo Bank. In 2004 she joined Union Planters Bank and in 2007 was one of the founding members of Metropolitan Bank, serving as commercial relationship manager. During her later years at Metropolitan Bank, and while at Renasant Bank, she focused on commercial real estate financing. June joined First Commercial Bank in 2020.

Elisa T. Phillips
Senior Managing Director
NMLS #535714

Elisa began her banking career in Washington D.C. in 1989, and ascended through the ranks in Jackson commercial lending as senior credit analyst/credit officer, vice president & manager of small business private banking, and vice president & manager, corporate banking and new business development. Elisa joined FCB in 2006, and specializes in lending services tailored to the small business, corporate and professional sectors.

Elizabeth Purcell
Managing Director

Elizabeth is a Managing Director in Private Client Banking based in our Jackson office. After receiving her B.B.A. in Banking and Managerial Finance from Ole Miss, she began her career with Metropolitan Bank in Memphis, serving as a consumer credit analyst for two years. She then joined Simmons Bank (formerly Triumph Bank) in Memphis, initially as a portfolio manager and then as an assistant vice president in medical and professional banking. Elizabeth joined First Commercial in 2023.

Dakota Tate
Managing Director, Trust Advisor

Dakota Tate has experience in trust administration and a background in brokerage and wealth management. Prior to joining First Commercial Bank’s Trust Services team in 2021, he was with Regions Bank Private Wealth Management, and prior to that, he worked for Morgan Stanley Financial Services. Dakota knows this market, having grown up in Madison, Mississippi, and graduated from Madison Central High School. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Mississippi College. In addition, he also earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Mississippi College. Recently, he graduated from Leadership Madison County as part of the 2019-2020 class.

Hank Waterer
Managing Director
NMLS #1201254

Hank earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Mississippi State University, and received his MBA in Finance from Mississippi College. He began his banking career in Trustmark National Bank’s management development program. Upon completion, he was a Relationship Manager in Trustmark’s Private Banking group. Hank joined First Commercial Bank in 2020.

Justin M. Bobo
DeSoto County President
NMLS #754146

Justin was named DeSoto County President in July, 2021. A gradate of Mississippi State University and the Graduate School of Banking at LSU, he has been in the banking industry over 20 years. Justin joined DeSoto County Bank in 2007, which then merged with First Commercial Bank in 2015. In addition to leading FCB's Southaven team, he is one of FCB's Commercial Banking specialists, and focuses on residential construction lending as well as small business banking.

Bobby McRee
Senior Managing Director
NMLS #663598

Bobby McRee’s banking career spans nearly four decades. He has 23 years of experience in commercial lending. Before joining First Commercial he was with BancorpSouth, most recently as a senior vice president, commercial lending in the Olive Branch, Mississippi area. Prior to BancorpSouth, Bobby worked in the Jackson market with First American (formerly Deposit Guaranty), then AmSouth in commercial lending.

Lucius Brock
President, Senior Managing Director
NMLS #508045

Lucius began his career as an examiner for the Department of Banking prior to joining First Commercial Bank in 2005. He subsequently earned his MBA from the University of Mississippi and is a graduate of the LSU School of Banking. He continued his banking career with Oxford University Bank and Renasant Bank prior to rejoining the First Commercial team in 2020.

W. Lynn Carson
Senior Managing Director, Regional Commercial Strategies
NMLS #595083

Prior to assuming his regional responsibility in 2020, Lynn served as FCB’s Oxford Market President. Before that he was Executive Vice President with Bank3. His career also includes senior level positions with SunTrust Bank, Metropolitan Bank, and Magna Bank. Lynn has a wealth of knowledge and experience in Commercial Lending.

Luke Harris
Managing Director
NMLS #501149

A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Luke earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Mississippi. His career includes several years with Citizens National Bank in the Meridian, DeSoto County, and Jackson markets as a Credit Analyst and then as a Commercial Banker. Most recently he served as a commercial relationship officer with Renasant Bank in Oxford. Luke joined First Commercial Bank in 2020.

Matthew A. Wages
Senior Managing Director & Market President

Matthew joined First Commercial Bank with over 22 years in banking, including 18 years in commercial and corporate banking. He was most recently a Senior Vice President of Commercial Banking for Regions Bank in Memphis. He will be responsible for leading the Memphis team in all aspects involving talent and client attraction and in the Bank’s efforts to grow our market loan and deposit production.

Matthew began his banking career a year after he received his B.A. in Managerial Economics from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia. Following four years in the retail management and private client financial services areas of First Horizon Bank in Chattanooga (TN), Matthew transitioned to the corporate banking group for the next seven years at First Horizon in Memphis. In 2013, he moved to Cadence Bank as a Senior Vice President in Commercial Banking and spent two years building their commercial banking team and partnering with other bank associates to target mortgage, private banking, investment and retail opportunities for the bank. In early 2016, Matthew became a Senior Vice President of Commercial Banking for Regions Bank, where he managed a large portfolio of upper to middle market clients.

During his first eight years of his banking career, Matthew was a graduate of Leadership Chattanooga, and he completed the Retail Banking course through the Southeastern School of Banking in Nashville as well as the American Bankers Association Graduate School of Commercial Lending at Southern Methodist University. He also previously received designations for his Series 7, Series 63, and Insurance Licenses. Matthew is also a Former President for the American Lung Association Council and is currently an Advisory Board Member of First Tee of Memphis

Kera M. Cooper
Senior Managing Director
NMLS #1160613

Kera began her banking career in 2006. She left banking in 2009 to work for Northwestern Mutual. In 2011, she returned to the industry with Metropolitan Bank. Prior to joining First Commercial Bank in 2020, most recently Cooper was Senior Managing Director, Private Banking with Renasant Bank in Memphis.

Thomas Harrison
Senior Managing Director, Treasury Management

Thomas has over 20 years of experience in treasury management, commercial and retail banking. He began his banking career with Union Planters, followed by roles at AmSouth and Trustmark. Prior to joining First Commercial in 2021 he was senior vice president of treasury management for the Tennessee division of Simmons Bank. Thomas is based in our Memphis office but serves clients across all our market areas.

Sarah C. Haney
Associate Managing Director, Treasury Management
NMLS #1720215

Sarah is a graduate of the University of Tulsa, where she earned a degree in marketing. She joined Metropolitan Bank in Memphis in 2012. Prior to coming to First Commercial Bank in 2020, most recently she managed the Private Client offices and was a Private Client lender with Renasant Bank in Memphis.

Karissa Norman
Managing Director, Private Client
NMLS #1064596

Karissa received her Bachelor of Science degree from Mississippi State University and later began her career in banking at Regions Bank, where she worked for three years as a financial services specialist. Karissa then joined Triumph Bank and was promoted from Universal Banker to Banking Center Manager and then to Private Client Officer in six years. Following Triumph’s merger with Simmons Bank in 2021, Karissa moved into medical and professional banking and was most recently a Vice President, Private Banker. She joined First Commercial in 2024.