Mechanics Bank has strengthened its wine industry presence with the
appointment of Dan Aguilar, a well-known banking professional whose 20
years of wine industry lending experience have included corporate
finance, banking, lending, and cash management services to a wide array
of West Coast wine enterprises. Mr. Aguilar will serve as Senior Vice
President and Regional Manager, Commercial Banking in Napa.
“Mechanics Bank has deep roots in the Napa Valley, and we consider the
North Bay to be a key component of our growth strategy in commercial
banking. We are making a statement that we are investing in the
resources to better serve this important market,” says Larry Fountain,
Executive Vice President and Director of Commercial Banking at Mechanics
Bank. “Dan’s reputation as a wine industry and commercial banking leader
is extraordinary, and we are delighted he’s joining our team.”
For 20 years, Mr. Aguilar was the Managing Director of Silicon Valley
Bank’s Wine Division, where he gained renown as an industry expert. He
served on the board of the Russian River Valley Winegrowers for nine
years, and has been a sought-after speaker about wine industry
profitability and performance benchmarking at industry conferences,
including speaking annually at the UC Davis Extension OIV Wine Marketing
Program. He also has partnered with Sonoma State’s Wine Business Program
to provide important insights on what sets top performers apart from
others in the industry and how wineries can adjust their operations to
mitigate the impact of the Great Recession. Mr. Aguilar also co-authored Benchmarking
Winery Financial Performance in Wine Business Monthly,
October 2010, cited frequently by industry experts.
Prior to his position at Silicon Valley Bank, Mr. Aguilar was Vice
President at Comerica Bank in San Francisco, and before that, Assistant
Vice President at Bank of America. Fluent in both Portuguese and
Spanish, he earned a BA in Latin American Studies at the University of
California, Berkeley, and studied for a year at Universidade de Sao
Paulo/ USP. He has an MBA in Finance from Berkeley’s Walter A. Haas
School of Business.
For more information about Mechanics Bank, go to www.mechanicsbank.com.