Aquesta Bank

Officers & Staff

Aquesta's officers are dedicated bank professionals with more than 90 years of combined experience. They also share a common interest in making the Lake Norman community an even better place to live and work.

Our experienced management team is ready to serve Lake Norman and the surrounding communities as your partner, providing fast, knowledgeable and responsive local decision making.


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Jim Engel – President & CEO
President and CEO of Aquesta Bank, Jim is an Attorney and former partner with the public accounting firm KPMG with more than 21 years experience working with financial institutions. Jim also serves on the Board of Directors for The Peninsula Club and is a member of the Knights of Columbus, St. Mark Parish.

Jim serves on both the Executive Committee and the Asset Liability/Investment Committee.

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Paul Dougovito – Chief Operating Officer
Paul also serves as Chief Operating Officer of Aquesta, bringing more than 35 years of experience with him, including positions as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer.

Paul serves on both the Audit/Compliance and Asset Liability/Investment Committees.

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Kristin Parsons – Chief Financial Officer
Prior to working with Aquesta, Kristin spent nine years as controller with a $600 million community bank. Her responsibilities included management of accounting, preparing and reviewing reports for the Board and Audit Committee, regulatory agencies, proxy statements, and the SEC. Kristin served as Chairperson of the Disclosure and Budget Committees, and is a member of the Asset Liability, and the Strategic Planning Committees.
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Buddy Caldwell – Chief Credit Officer
Buddy has been involved in the banking industry for more than 30 years. For the past 19 years, he served as senior lender with First Charter Bank in Cornelius. There he established an enviable record of providing superior customer service, originating and servicing a very significant portfolio of commercial loans, and supervising junior lenders in expanding business in the Lake Norman Community. At Aquesta, Buddy is responsible for hiring and appointing lenders, supervise credit review processes, and share responsibility for the performance of the bank.

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Cathy O’Nan – SVP Director of Retail Banking
Cathy brings 20 years of lending experience to Aquesta's family of banking professionals.  Cathy was the leader of the dealer finance program and VP/Consumer Financial Services Manager for Bank South/Citizens & Peoples National Bank in Pensacola, Florida, and later became Branch Manager for Arcadia Financial in Atlanta.  Cathy is also a CFP(R) certificant.

Cathy is involved in several community activities such as credit counseling for Habitat for Humanity and the School Leadership Committee for Davidson IB Middle School.

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Louis Fletcher – City Executive of Lincoln County
With 27 years of experience in the banking industry, Louis has served as a business development officer with both Peoples and Lincoln Bank in Lincoln County. At Aquesta he will handle the lending needs of Lincoln County. Louis' strong ties to the community include extensive community involvement, including serving as a board member for Helping Hands Health Clinic, a 27-veteran of the Boger City Volunteer Fire Department and a 28-year member of the Kiwanis Club.

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Mary Craven - City Executive of Davidson
Mary Craven is a 15 year resident in the Lake Norman area, having resided in Davidson since 1998. Mary brings 20 years experience in the sales, sales management, insurance and banking industries; having recently served as Sales & Service Manager/Loan Officer with First Charter Bank, primarily in the Davidson area. You may have seen Mary on stage in local community theatre including Davidson Community Players and Mooresville Community Theatre. She is also active in both USTA and Lake Norman Tennis Assoc. At Aquesta, Mary will handle local business development in the Davidson area.
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Julie Brown – Branch Manager
Julie has served as a relationship banker with BB&T since graduating from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with a degree in Business Administration/Finance. Julie is a Charlotte native and has lived in Huntersville for the past 18 years. She will be serving as Branch Manager and Assistant Vice President for Aquesta.


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Lauren (Kimsey) Furcht– Director of Marketing

Lauren Kimsey brings over 7 years of marketing and public relations experience to the Aquesta Bank team. Lauren began her career with Hopper Communications, a public relations company based in Charlotte, and then worked as the the Director of Marketing for the Law Offices of Michael A. DeMayo, L.L.P. for 3 years. Lauren joined the Aquesta Bank team in September of 2006. She and her husband Colin live in Cornelius.

Jeff Moody – Vice President/Commercial Lender
Jeff has been in banking for 35 years, and has been involved in commercial lending for 28 of those years.  His lending experience includes both construction and permanent financing on commercial real estate properties, operating lines of credit for small to medium sized companies, and extensive experience in all types of loans offered through the U.S. Small Business Administration.  At Aquesta Bank Jeff is the specialist for SBA lending, but he can also handle any other type of commercial loan need customers may have.

Ed Keller – Vice President/Commercial Loan Officer
Ed Keller brings over 22 years of commercial lending experience to the bank, primarily for capital equipment. Ed has held several sales and sales management positions with US Bancorp Leasing & Financial, Orix Financial and most recently for a division of Financial Federal Corporation.  Ed and his family have lived in Davidson for seven years.

Skip Brake – Asst. VP & Commercial Loan Officer
Skip Brake has joined the team at Aquesta Bank as Assistant Vice President and a Commercial Loan Officer. He was formerly employed with SunTrust Bank and has over 7 years of commercial lending experience. Skip has lived in the Lake Norman area for 5 years.

Cagin Orgen - Asst. VP & IT Manager 
Cagin served as the IT Systems Specialist with AuburnBank for 4 years after graduating from Auburn University with a degree in Management Information Systems.  He will be serving as IT Manager and Assistant Vice President for Aquesta.

 

Additional Staff Members

Brigette Barker - Business Development Representative

Linda Brodbeck - Teller - Davidson

Lisa Cook - Operations Associate

Alex Economou - Teller

Theresa Frey - Asst. Branch Manager - Davidson

Rich Harris - VP & Manager of Credit Underwriting & Analysis

Susan Miller - Customer Service Representative

Kathy Panuski - Operations Assistant

Linda Patrick - Deposit/Loan Servicing Operations Manager

Regina Payne - Loan Servicing Assistant 

June Pharr - Senior Loan Officer's Assistant

Kristin Phillips - Teller - Davidson

Toni Pilieci - Head Teller

Tami Rasche - Customer Service Representative

Robyn Smithwick - Teller

Connie Stallings - Operations Associate