Pacific Western Bank launched a Tax-Exempt Lending Group to focus on the capital needs of municipalities, schools and school districts, non-profits and other issuers of tax-exempt debt.

In conjunction with the launch Pacific Western has hired two bankers.

Christopher Baron will lead the bank’s efforts in the government sector. He has spent his entire 24 year career in public finance, all within Pacific Western Bank’s primary market of Southern California. Most recently he served as managing director of Public Finance for MUFG Union Bank, where he was responsible for their Western State Region. Prior to that, he was the head of the Education and Nonprofits Division at US Bank.

Daniel Bronfman will lead the bank’s efforts in the non-profit sector. Prior to joining Pacific Western Bank, Bronfman was the founder and president of Growth Capital Associates, an advisory firm specializing in facilitating tax-exempt and taxable financings for the benefit of nonprofit organizations and businesses involved in manufacturing, recycling and value-added processing activities.