Independent bank to have Agassi on board
Like other independent banks, Meadows Bank intends to offer personalized service that local small businesses can’t find at the larger regional banks.
But Meadows, which is expected to open in January with $40 million in startup capital, will have something maybe no other independent bank in Southern Nevada has started with: a celebrity on its board of directors, according to the proposed bank’s CEO.
Retired tennis pro and local celebrity Andre Agassi will be sitting on the bank’s board, said Arvind Menon, the former chief executive of Nevada First Bank.
"I invested in Nevada First Bank in 1999," Agassi said in a statement. "I enjoyed watching it grow, and I got a lot of satisfaction seeing the services it provided to the community. We sold that bank to Western Alliance, and I just felt it was time to be a part of the banking industry again."
Other board members for Meadows Bank are James Rogers, chairman of the Nevada Higher Education System Board of Regents and owner of 16 NBC and Fox television stations in five Western states; Lorenzo Fertitta, vice chairman and president of Station Casinos; William Bullard, chairman of Fertitta Enterprises, a private investment company; Timothy Poster and Thomas Breitling, the former owners of Travelscape.com and the Golden Nuggets in Las Vegas and Laughlin; Brian Greenspun, chairman of the Greenspun Corp. and editor of the Las Vegas Sun; Key Reid, general counsel to the Greenspun Corp. and son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid; William Wortman, a partner in Cannery Casino Resorts; Daniel Ayala, who owns gifts shops; Clay Wanta, chief credit officer of Meadows Bank; and Perry Rogers, son of James Rogers, attorney and manager for Agassi.
Menon said the large startup capital amount will allow Meadows Bank to attract loan officers with clients who may need up to $10 million in loans, the maximum based for $40 million in capital.
Organizers have raised 75 percent of $40 million, accepting $100,000 to $250,000 from individual investors.
The bank will be at The Park at Spanish Ridge on the 215 frontage road between Russell Road and Tropicana Avenue.
