U.S. Bank Names Chris Heman Market President in Washington

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--U.S. Bank has named Chris Heman market president for the State of Washington and head of commercial banking in the Puget Sound region effective March 1. Heman succeeds Ken Kirkpatrick, who is retiring.

“Chris has been a key contributor to U.S. Bank’s success in the Puget Sound area and is a respected member of the Washington market leadership team. His knowledge of the region, combined with his experience in banking and commitment to succeed, make him well suited to this new role.”

Heman has been with U.S. Bank for 20 years, and has led its retail branch network in the Seattle-Tacoma area since 2005. His team has been among the top performing regions for U.S. Bank nationwide, and has been the strongest region for small business lending for several years.

“Washington is a vitally important economy in the Pacific Northwest where we see tremendous potential for growth,” said Elliot Jaffee, executive vice president in wholesale banking at U.S. Bank. “Chris has been a key contributor to U.S. Bank’s success in the Puget Sound area and is a respected member of the Washington market leadership team. His knowledge of the region, combined with his experience in banking and commitment to succeed, make him well suited to this new role.”

Heman earned a bachelor's degree in marketing and advertising from Southwest Missouri State University and an MBA from the University of Colorado. He serves as a board member for the Independent Colleges of Washington and is an advisory board member for Seattle Community Colleges. Heman and his wife, Jennifer, live in Everett, Wash., with their two children.

Kirkpatrick will retire after a 41-year career in banking. Kirkpatrick spent his entire career with U.S. Bank and its predecessor Peoples Bank, where he started as a teller. Kirkpatrick rose to serve in leadership positions throughout his career, up to and including his appointment as president at U.S. Bank in Washington in 2002. Kirkpatrick served for six years on the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Seattle Branch until 2008. He is chairman emeritus of the board of the Pacific Coast Banking School in Seattle, and has represented the Seattle business community on numerous delegations to countries in Europe and Asia. His involvement in the community is deep, including two terms as board chair at Junior Achievement and as a two-time chair of ArtsFund.

“Ken is an icon in the Seattle business community, as well as in the nonprofit sector that he and his wife, SaSa, so ardently support,” said Richard Davis, chairman, president and chief executive officer of U.S. Bancorp. “Ken is a motivator, an advocate and an inspiration. We are grateful for his dedication and leadership, which will live on through the spirit of community service he has instilled in his employees, evidenced most recently with more than 240 U.S. Bank volunteers at the Northwest Harvest food drive this past fall. We wish him the very best in his retirement.”

With a legacy dating back to the founding of Peoples National Bank of Washington in 1889, U.S. Bank now has 89 branches and more than 1,400 employees in Seattle. The bank is a proud community partner, providing more than $1.3 million in local charitable contributions and its employees volunteered more than 2,300 hours at nonprofit organizations in the Seattle area. In addition, small business lending at U.S. Bank in Seattle is up more than 15 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with the same period last year.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), with $354 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2012, is the parent company of U.S. Bank, the 5th largest commercial bank in the United States. The company operates 3,084 banking offices in 25 states and 5,065 ATMs and provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions. Visit U.S. Bancorp on the web at usbank.com.