Financial Services >> CEO Interviews >> May 19, 2003
CRAIG J. CERNY has served as Chairman of the Board and Chief
Executive Officer of Harrington West Financial Group, Inc., since
August 1995, when he formed the company to acquire Los Padres
Bank. Mr. Cerny has been the Chief Executive Officer of Los
Padres Bank since October 2001 and the Chairman of the Board of
Los Padres Bank since May 2002. Mr. Cerny has also served as a
director and the Chief Investment Officer of Los Padres Bank
since April 1996. Until January 2002, Mr. Cerny was the Chief
Executive Officer, President and a director of Harrington
Financial Group, Inc., Richmond, Indiana, or HFGI, and Chairman
of the Board and Chief Executive Officer and President of HFGI's
subsidiary, Harrington Bank, FSB, positions he held since
February 1992. In January 2002, HFGI and Harrington Bank merged
with an unaffiliated financial institution after the sale, among
other things, of the assets of HFGI's Shawnee Mission, Kansas,
operations to Los Padres Bank. Prior to holding these positions,
Mr. Cerny served as a principal and member of the board of
directors of Smith Breeden Associates, Inc., which is a money
management and bank consulting firm with over $20 billion of
assets under management or advisement. Mr. Cerny was employed at
Smith Breeden from April 1985 to December 1996, where he was
active in their bank consulting and investment advisory practice.
Mr. Cerny remains a stockholder in Smith Breeden. Prior to
joining Smith Breeden, Mr. Cerny held a number of financial
management related positions with Hallmark Cards, Inc., and Pizza
Hut Restaurants, Inc. He holds a Master of Business
Administration degree in Finance and a Bachelor of Science degree
in Finance from Arizona State University. Mr. Cerny resides in
the Kansas City metropolitan area, where HWFG maintains an
executive office and the Harrington Bank division of Los Padres
Bank operates. Profile
history of Harrington West?
Mr. Cerny: Harrington West Financial Group (NASDAQ: HWFG) was
formed in 1995 to acquire Los Padres Bank,
