Former Poppy Bank exec Debbie Meekins joins Exchange Bank board

Debbie Meekins, who once led Poppy Bank in Santa Rosa, will join the board of directors of Santa Rosa-based Exchange Bank on June 1.

“Debbie complements our very strong board and fully shares our values. She has unquestionable integrity, professionalism, naturally positive leadership skills and compassion for the community,” Bill Schrader, Exchange Bank chairman of the board, said in the announcement Thursday.

Meekins left the position of president and CEO of Poppy in December, in the same year the area bank dropped its name, First Community Bank, in favor of Poppy.

Meekins, joined First Community Bank in 2012 after more than two decades as CEO of Sonoma National Bank, which was sold to Sterling Financial, then Umpqua Holdings. Meekins played a key role in engineering the turnaround of the Spokane, Washington-based Sterling after the Sonoma Bank owner suffered a major financial setback during the recession.

Headquartered in Sonoma County and founded in 1890, Exchange Bank reports assets of $2.6 billion with 18 branches in Sonoma County and a commercial and SBA lending office in Roseville and Marin County.