Governance Board

Norm Franke

Mr. Franke began his career with Alpine Bank in May, 1983.  As a management trainee, Mr. Franke worked with the bank’s overall operations and computer systems, bank operational duties, commercial lending, personnel management, regulatory compliance, and bank management.  He became Regional President for Alpine Bank’s Clifton, Downtown Grand Junction, Horizon Drive, Grand Junction Mall, Fruita and Delta locations in 1990.  Today, Mr. Franke oversees the growth of Alpine Bank across the front range of Colorado. Alpine Bank opened the Union Station branch in April 2014, Cherry Creek branch in April 2015, and the Denver Tech Center West branch in May 2018.

An active member of his community, Mr. Franke is a member of the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation Board, Colorado Uplift, Colorado Concern, Denver Rotary, Cactus Club, University Club, B: Civic, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, Denver Red Cross Board of Directors, Colorado Children’s Hospital Leadership Council, American Transplant Foundation Board, Denver Police Department Foundation Board, and the Denver Metro Economic Development Council.

These leadership roles are in addition to Mr. Franke’s service on the Young Americans Bank Board of Directors.  His knowledge and experience are vital assets to overseeing the world’s only bank specifically designed for youth under the age of 22.  In addition, Alpine Bank has been a valuable partner in the expansion of AmeriTowne On the Road in Grand Junction, in the Send-a-School scholarship initiative that provides access to Young Americans Center programs for low-income youth, and in the Spotlight on YouthBiz Stars business competition, which recognizes Colorado’s top youth entrepreneurs.

According to Mr. Franke, “Supporting Young Americans Center for Financial Education both personally and through Alpine Bank’s corporate giving means that an entire generation of young people can grow up knowing how to spend, save, and share their money wisely.  As a long-time banker and a parent, I know how valuable this lesson can be, and I’m proud to be involved.”

Francisco Garcia

Francisco Garcia is the founder of Garcia companies: Garcia International, LLP, a business consulting firm, and Garcia Capital Management, a private equity firm focusing on early- and mid-stage companies. Both companies are located in Denver.

Francisco was an active-duty Air Force Officer from 1983 to 1989 and then served the next four years in the Air National Guard.

After his military service, Francisco founded and served as CEO and Chairman of IITC — an information technology solutions provider of satellite communications, network, engineering, and installation services — until he sold the company to PEC Solutions, Inc. in 2004. For the fiscal year that ended September 30, 2004, Francisco led IITC to a record $37 million in revenue. He started IITC in O’Fallon, Illinois in 1991.

Following the sale of his company, Francisco turned his focus to community service, joining several organizations in the Denver community. He is currently a member of the board of trustees of AAA Colorado.

To further his goal of providing education and education-related opportunities to underprivileged students, Francisco established The BTG Family Foundation. The foundation provides funding to nonprofit institutions to support the education, health, and welfare of elementary through college students.

Francisco’s accomplishments have garnered him numerous state and national awards. In 2004, he was inducted into the Small Business Administration’s Colorado “Wall of Fame” to mark its 50th anniversary. He was also named Ernst & Young’s 2004 Rocky Mountain Entrepreneur of the Year in the Business Services category. Other accolades include 2002 SBA Colorado Small Business Person of the Year and the SBA Region VIII Subcontractor of the Year.

Andy Hancock

Andy began his career with FirstBank in 1985 after graduating from the University of Colorado. His first assignment with FirstBank was in their Eagle County market where he worked at both the Avon and Vail locations. In 1997 Andy was promoted to President of FirstBank of Breckenridge where he spent 2 years. In 1999 Andy moved to the Littleton market where he was the President until he was promoted to Regional President in 2016. As a Regional President Andy oversaw markets in Colorado Springs, Douglas County, South Metro Denver area from the Tech Center to Lakewood and all the company’s mountain locations in Summit, Eagle and Garfield and Pitkin counties.

During his tenure at FirstBank, Andy held various leadership roles within the company. As a member of the Credit Policy Committee for 6 years Andy helped shape the lending policies that governed the lending activities of over 300 lending officers in the FirstBank system. Andy was the chairman of the FirstBank loan committee for two years and oversaw the weekly activities of this committee that analyzed more than 2000 individual loans totaling more than $3 billion.  Andy ended his career as one of three regional Presidents in with Firstbank. His region included 8 markets from Colorado Springs to Aspen, employed 396 employees, held assets of $7.3 billion and annual income of $85 million. In addition, Andy was an active member of the Investment Policy Committee, the Job Responsibilities Committee, and the Senior Leadership Team.

Following the FirstBank tradition of active involvement in local community groups, Andy was the Chairman of the South Metro Housing Options, Executive Board Member of Arapahoe Community College Foundation, Executive Board Member of Littleton Business Coalition and Board Member for Hudson Gardens. Andy received a BS in Finance from the University of Colorado and is a graduate of the Pacific Coast Graduate School of Banking.

Andy has lived in Colorado his entire life. He presently lives in Littleton with his wife Chris and has 2 children. His daughter Virginia works for Goldman Sachs in Salt Lake City and his son Cole works for Warburg Pincus in San Francisco.

Governor Bill Owens

Bill Owens served as the 40th Governor of Colorado from 1999-2007, and he is now a Senior Director of Greenberg Traurig, an international law firm with 45 offices on five continents.  Prior to his service as Governor, Bill was Colorado State Treasurer where he managed a $5 billion investment portfolio. He also served in the State Senate and State House.

As Governor of Colorado, Bill – called the “Best Governor in America” in a cover story in National Review magazine – was elected by his colleagues to serve as Chair of both the Western Governors Association as well as the Republican Governors Association.

He began his career in the private sector on the Management Services staff at Touche Ross & Co (today’s Deloitte), followed by nearly a decade as Executive Director of the Colorado Petroleum Association/Executive Vice President of the Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas Association, which represented 400 energy companies active in Colorado and the Rockies.

Bill served as non-executive Vice Chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland (Global Banking and Markets) and served on the board of two private companies prior to their IPO launch: Keating Capital (NASDAQ: KIPO) and Century Communities (NYSE: CCS). He also served on the board of Vision Logistics, an oilfield portfolio company owned by Welsh Carson, as well as four additional NYSE-listed companies (Federal Signal (FSS), Bill Barrett (BBG), Key Energy (KEG), and Cloud Peak Energy (CLD).

Bill was actively involved in the Soviet Union and Russia from the 1980’s until February 2022, when he ceased all involvement following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, stating, “I stand with my country and Ukraine.” During those years, he was a guest lecturer at Moscow State University, Russia New University (Moscow), Kazan State University in Tatarstan and the Kazakh-British Technical University in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He addressed the Kazakh Senate in Astana, Kazakhstan and has been the keynote speaker at the RAND US/Russia Business Forum in Moscow.

Bill served five years on the Board of Directors and as Chair of the Strategy Committee of the Far Eastern Shipping Company, a Russian railroad, port and shipping company, listed on the MICEX and RTS. Bill served from 2014 until his resignation in February 2022 as the Chairman of the Board of the Credit Bank of Moscow, an investor-owned bank listed on the Moscow Stock Exchange, which was the largest non-government owned bank in Russia. Bill was an independent director on both boards, representing investors such as the World Bank and the European Bank of Recovery and Development.

Bill earned a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Texas, where he was awarded a two-year fellowship, and his Bachelor of Science from Stephen F. Austin State University.

Craig Richardson

Craig Richardson is executive vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary at Union Pacific Railroad. In this role, he oversees all aspects of the company’s legal affairs, including commercial transactions and litigation, labor and employment, and regulatory matters. He also leads the company’s claims management team.

Previously, Richardson served as vice president of commercial and regulatory law. He joined Union Pacific as associate general counsel in 2016. Prior to the railroad, Richardson was principal shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, and vice president and general counsel of the El Paso Pipeline Group. Richardson has held various national security positions in the United States government, and he is a retired commander in the United States Navy Reserve.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College, a master’s degree from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and a J.D. degree from Stanford University.

Richardson and his wife, Valerie, have three children.

Jonathan Rogers

Jonathan Rogers is an Executive Vice President for Pinnacle Bancorp, Inc. and Regional President for Bank of Colorado, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pinnacle Bancorp, Inc., where he is responsible for the Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs markets. Prior to joining the Bank in 2012, Mr. Rogers served as an Assistant Vice President at Aon Corporation in New York City where he specialized in structuring insurance solutions to facilitate mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions. Mr. Rogers is also a member of the Board of Directors for Pinnacle Bancorp, Inc.

Memberships and Affiliations:

• Colorado Concern, Member (2021-current)
• Pinnacle Bancorp, Inc., Board Member (2021-current)
• Young Americans Bank, Board Member (2019-current)
• Bank of Colorado, Board Member (2017-current)