Santa Clarita Valley History In Pictures
> PEOPLE   > BUSINESS
John M. Reardon
Valencia National Bank


Click image to enlarge

Banker John Michael Reardon (b. February 1, 1942) came from Ramco Oil & Gas Inc. (aka The Ram Cos.) to take over as the second and final president of Valencia National Bank on Aug. 22, 1994, succeeding founding president John Manley, who was fired.

Announcing his hiring, board chairman Louis Garasi said in a statement: "John Reardon is bringing to our bank the kind of banking, marketing and business experience we need at this time. His previous success in these areas make him a good match for our bank. I know we will now be able to serve Santa Clarita Valley consumers and businesses even better than we have in the past."

Reardon shephered the bank through a transition from a federal charter to a state charter, which gave it higher lending limits so it could be a bigger player in the construction lending market. The switch also necessitated a name change, to Valencia Bank & Trust.

In 2002, Reardon engineered the merger of the three-branch bank (one each in Valencia, Newhall and Canyon Country) into Union Bank of California. The merger was complete in November 2002, and Reardon stayed on until October 2007 as market president of Union Bank's Valencia branch.

While running Valencia Bank & Trust, Reardon went back to Oklahoma-based RAM Energy as a member of its board of directors from January 1998 to May 2002. He rejoined the board in May 2006 and served until February 8, 2012, when RAM reorganized and changed its name to Halcón Resources Corp. Based in Houston, Halcón is an independent energy company focused on the acquisition, production, exploration and development of onshore liquids-rich assets in the United States.

The following biography (2012) is from RAM Energy Resources Inc.:

John M. Reardon was the market president of Union Bank of California, in Valencia, California, November 2002 until October 2007. From August 1994 until November 2002, Mr. Reardon was president and chief executive officer of Valencia Bank and Trust, Santa Clarita, California.

From 1991 to August 1994, Mr. Reardon was executive vice president of Ramco Oil and Gas, Inc., and RAM Management Associates, Inc.

Mr. Reardon was a senior vice president of Wells Fargo Bank, Los Angeles, California from 1987 to 1991. Previously, he served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Southwestern Bank and Trust Company, Oklahoma City; executive vice president of The First National Bank and Trust Company of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and vice president of Liberty National Bank and Trust Company, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Mr. Reardon is currently on the board of directors of the Santa Clarita Valley Boys & Girls Club Foundation. In 2000, Mr. Reardon was presented the Entrepreneur of the Year Award by Ernst & Young and he is a life member in the Entrepreneur of the Year Award Hall of Fame. Mr. Reardon has served as a director of Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum, Los Angeles, California; as a member and officer of several committees and sub-committees of the Housing and Real Estate Finance Committee of the American Bankers Association; and as a director of the Oklahoma Bankers Association.

Mr. Reardon has served on the faculty of the University of Oklahoma School of Commercial Banking; Southwestern Graduate School of Banking, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas; the Real Estate Finance School and the National Commercial Lending School of the American Bankers Association; the Secured Lending School of the Oklahoma Bankers Association. He served as Chairman of the Federal Government Relations Committee of the Oklahoma Bankers Association and as a member of the board of directors of the Chair of Banking, the College of Business of the University of Oklahoma. He has also served as an advisory director of Oklahoma State University and a member of the Oklahoma State Advisory Council of the United States Small Business Administration.

Mr. Reardon received a B.S. in business from Oklahoma State University and is a graduate of the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.


LW2426: 9600 dpi jpeg from original mid-1990s print.
VALENCIA NATIONAL BANK

thumbnail
John M. Reardon

RETURN TO TOP ]   RETURN TO MAIN INDEX ]   PHOTO CREDITS ]   BIBLIOGRAPHY ]   BOOKS FOR SALE ]
SCVHistory.com is another service of SCVTV, a 501c3 Nonprofit • Site contents ©SCVTV
The site owner makes no assertions as to ownership of any original copyrights to digitized images. However, these images are intended for Personal or Research use only. Any other kind of use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication in any medium or format, public exhibition, or use online or in a web site, may be subject to additional restrictions including but not limited to the copyrights held by parties other than the site owner. USERS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for determining the existence of such rights and for obtaining any permissions and/or paying associated fees necessary for the proposed use.