Executive Staff
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First Bank 1395 Yardville-Hamilton Square Rd. Hamilton, NJ 08691
(877) 821-BANK (2265)
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As President and Chief Executive Officer of First Bank, Patrick L. Ryan directly manages all areas of the bank, including Strategy, Operations, Marketing, Finance, Information Technology, Retail Administration, and Lending Departments. Mr. Ryan graduated Summa Cum Laude from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government, a minor in Economics, the Government Department prize, and membership in Phi Beta Kappa. He received a Masters of Business Administration from Dartmouth University’s Tuck School of Business. A Tuck Scholar, he graduated with Distinction. Mr. Ryan served as an Investment Banker at Goldman Sachs, a Management Consultant for Bain and Company in Boston, Massachusetts, and a Senior Executive at Yardville National Bank prior to joining First Bank.
First Bank Chief Lending Officer and Executive Vice President Peter Cahill began his banking career in 1980 at Princeton Bank & Trust Company as a commercial credit analyst. Since that time, he has accepted positions of progressively greater responsibility leading lending teams at a number of financial institutions, including Midlantic National Bank, PNC Bank, Summit Bank/FleetBoston Financial, and Yardville National Bank. Immediately prior to joining the First Bank team, Mr. Cahill served as Senior Vice President/Sales Manager for the PNC Financial Services Group in Hamilton, New Jersey.
Mr. Cahill joined First Bank in October, 2008, and has managed all aspects of the lending function since that time. Responsibilities include relationship management in commercial, real estate and consumer lending, credit underwriting, as well as loan administration.
Mr. Cahill earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and graduated with honors from Stonier Graduate School of Banking in Newark, Delaware. He also completed Globecon Capital Markets Training.
Darleen Gillespie is First Bank's EVP/Chief Retail Banking Officer. She is responsible for overall execution and development of the bank’s deposit gathering strategy as well as leadership of the bank’s branch network to ensure operations that effectively support the bank’s deposit goals.
Darleen has over 28 years of experience in Retail banking and branch management leading a team to meet bank objectives. She comes to First Bank from a SVP/Regional Management position with Provident Bank overseeing the retail network in their Central New Jersey Market.
Ms. Gillespie earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Ramapo College and MBA From the University of Massachusetts Isenberg School of Business. She is a past student of the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking and has a leadership certificate from the Wharton School of Business. She is a member of Middlesex and Princeton Regional Chambers of Commerce.
Andrew L. Hibshman brings nearly 20 years of banking experience to First Bank. As the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, he prepares earnings and other financial reports, handles regulatory reporting, manages and analyzes the bank’s investment portfolio, maintains the bank’s accounting system and general ledger and prepares the bank’s annual budget and financial plan.
Prior to joining First Bank, Mr. Hibshman was the Chief Financial Officer at a small community bank in Philadelphia for nearly five years. Mr. Hibshman began his career in banking as a community bank auditor with an international accounting firm working out of the firm’s Philadelphia office for two years and the firm’s New York City office for over five years.
Mr. Hibshman graduated Cum Laude from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting in 2004 and obtained his CPA designation in 2007. He resides in Yardley, Pennsylvania with his wife and two young daughters.
John Shepardson serves as First Bank’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, working directly with the Bank’s Strategic Planning, Compliance, Information Technology, Human Resources, and Facilities teams. Additionally, John helps facilitate the bank’s growth strategy through coordination and planning of post-merger integration initiatives and various process improvement initiatives across the bank’s operations.
Outside of his experience with First Bank, John worked in consulting, including roles as an Executive Director with Ernst & Young, and a Senior Consultant with Arthur Andersen.
John earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering degree from the University of Michigan.