Melinda Fricke Joins Pacific Western Bank as SVP, Business Development Officer for Asset-Based Lending in North Texas


Pacific Western Bank is pleased to announce that Melinda Fricke has joined the Bank as a Senior Vice President, Business Development Officer on its asset-based lending team. She will be located at the Bank’s Plano, Texas office. Melinda will expand the Bank’s efforts to deliver asset-based lending solutions to middle-market businesses in North Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

“Melinda is an exceptionally experienced asset-based lending professional who is well-respected in our industry” said Matt Lernor, Managing Director, Pacific Western Business Finance, “She is a welcome addition to our existing team and will help us accelerate our plans to grow our client base in a meaningful way over the course of the next year and beyond,” concluded Lernor.

With over 25 years of experience in asset-based lending, Fricke joins Pacific Western Bank after having spent the past twelve years working with Crestmark Bank as Regional first Vice President of Business Development in Dallas, Texas, where she was responsible for opening their first lending office in the state. Prior to Crestmark, Melinda worked in various business development roles for Summit Financial, Wells Fargo Business Credit, Fremont Financial Business Credit/FINOVA, and First Community Financial. Fricke is actively involved in both professional and charitable organizations within the community she serves. As a lending professional she is an active member of the Association for Corporate Growth serving on both the Women’s Committee and the 2021 Capital Connection Committee.  She is also the former Philanthropy Chair of the Women’s Finance Exchange. In respect to her community involvement, Fricke is Co-Founder and Treasurer of Stupid Strong, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to gastric cancer research and awareness. She holds her Bachelor of Science from Arizona State University.

About Pacific Western Bank

Pacific Western Bank is a commercial bank with over $28 billion in assets headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with executive offices in Denver, Colorado. The Bank has 70 full-service branches primarily located in California, with one branch located in Durham, North Carolina, and one branch located in Denver, Colorado. The bank provides community banking products including lending and comprehensive deposit and treasury management services to small and medium-sized businesses conducted primarily through our California-based branch offices and Denver, Colorado branch office. The Bank offers national lending products including asset-based, equipment, and real estate loans and treasury management services to established middle-market businesses on a national basis. The Bank also offers venture banking products including a comprehensive suite of financial services focused on entrepreneurial and venture-backed businesses and their venture capital and private equity investors, with offices located in key innovation hubs across the United States.  For more information about Pacific Western Bank, visit www.pacwest.com.