Pioneer Bank appointed Ron Coben president and CEO effective immediately. Coben has been interim CEO since August 2016.

“Under Ron’s leadership, we have completed very significant milestones in 2016, including our $1.2 billion merger with First Community Bank, opening our new Austin headquarters and establishing a new technology platform for the consolidated bank,” said Pioneer Bank Chairman Whit Hanks. “When we look at what Ron has accomplished in such a short amount of time, it was an easy conclusion to move forward with him as president and CEO.”

Coben served seven years as COO of Pioneer Bank and First Community Bank, Pioneer’s merger partner. He began his banking career 30 years ago with Texas Commerce Bank followed by a 14-year tenure at Houston-based Bank United, where he served as executive vice president of Retail Banking and played a critical role in growing the bank to 160 branches and $18 billion in assets. Coben also has provided consulting services to firms including Barclays UK and Guaranty Bank.

“We have a great team of bankers at Pioneer Bank and are looking to add even more talent. Over the past year, we’ve built a strong foundation to allow for scalable growth,” added Coben. “I look forward to seeing what our team can do in 2017 when we focus 100% of our efforts on our customers and growth.”

Pioneer Bank is an Austin, TX-based community bank. At October 31, 2016, Pioneer Bank reported total assets of $1.2 billion and total deposits of $1 billion.