About Us

The Board of Directors

Thomas R. Kowalski - Chief Executive Officer and Director
      Mr. Kowalski served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the First State Bank of Hotchkiss from 1980 to 2000. Additionally, from 1984 until 2000, Mr. Kowalski was Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of MegaBank Financial Corp., a $300 million bank holding company which he founded in 1984. In 2000 MegaBank was sold to Compass Bancshares.
      From 1972-1992, Mr. Kowalski was involved in the real estate industry, serving as President of Realtek Company, a general contractor and real estate development corporation. He served as a director of The Fortress Group, Inc., a publicly traded home building company listed on the NASDAQ from 2001 to 2002 when the company was sold to Lennar Homes. Mr. Kowalski graduated from the University of Colorado with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.
      Since 2001, Mr. Kowalski has served as a Director of Howe Barnes Hoefer and Arnett, a full service brokerage firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Raymond L. Anilionis - Director
      Mr. Anilionis has been President of Landmark Realty Advisors, a real estate consulting and asset management firm, since 1994. From 1974 to 1994, Mr. Anilionis served as Senior Vice President of Mortgage Investment Co. of El Paso, Texas, a mortgage banking and real estate holding company.
      Mr. Anilionis was a board member of MegaBank from 1984 until its sale in 2000 to Compass Bank. Since 2004, he has been a board member of Colorado Capital Bank and the Mesa State College Real Estate Foundation. Past qualifications and memberships include Colorado Real Estate Brokers license, Colorado Certified General Appraiser (both inactive), member and chairman of Planning and Zoning Commission, Cherry Hills Village from 1994 to 2000, Mortgage Bankers Assoc., Home Builders Assoc., and American Arbitration Assoc.
      Mr. Anilionis educational qualifications include a BBA in finance and an MS in urban land economics both from the University of Wisconsin.

Thomas L. Barton - Director
      Thomas L. Barton is currently a private investor managing residential developments and rental projects in Colorado and California. Mr. Barton was a law clerk for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa from 1967 to 1969. He was a corporate attorney for IBM from 1969 through 1972 in New York and Colorado. He was a corporate attorney for Phillips Petroleum Company from 1972 until 1993 holding various positions in their legal department including his final posting as Regional Chief Attorney for the Western Region. He is currently the President and CEO of Maclin Holding Company, a privately held Colorado corporation engaged in the oil and gas business. Mr. Barton graduated from the University of Iowa Law School in 1967. He is licensed to practice law in Colorado and Iowa.

Ryan Kowalski - Director
      Ryan Kowalski is currently involved in commercial and residential development in the Denver metro area, and as a mezzanine lender for construction and development projects through The Kowalski Partnership and Respond Corp. Ryan was Vice President of Real Estate and a director of MegaBank from 1997 through the sale of the bank to Compass Bank in 2000. Prior to joining MegaBank, Ryan was President of Realtek Co., a construction company involved in residential development, construction of custom homes, and new construction and remodel of commercial banks and medical facilities. He also performs residential construction progress inspections for various Denver banks as he has for the past 22 years.

Richard Saul - Director
      Since 1980, Richard Saul has been a shareholder in the law firm of Lottner Rubin Fishman Brown and Saul, P.C. in Denver, Colorado. Mr. Saul specializes in tax planning, entity formation and real estate, business and financing transactions. Mr. Saul is also on the Board of Directors of the Mountain States Region of the Anti-Defamation League.
      Mr. Saul received a BA degree from Tufts University, a JD degree from Syracuse University and an LLM in Taxation from New York University.

Christopher H. Luce - Director
      Chris H. Luce is the Founder and President of Luce Capital Management, LLC an investment advisory firm. Prior to founding Luce Capital Management, Mr. Luce was an associate at a middle-market private equity firm where he worked on a number of transactions in various industries including manufacturing, consumer products and information technology.
      Mr. Luce graduated from Washington University in St. Louis where he earned dual degrees in Economics and Finance.

Brian M. Soeldner - President and Director
      Brian M. Soeldner joined Front Range Bank in May 2007. Prior to joining Front Range Bank, Mr. Soeldner was a partner with Merit Capital Partners, a private equity fund that provides mezzanine debt and equity capital to middle market businesses. After joining Merit in 2001, Mr. Soeldner managed and served on the Board of Directors of several portfolio companies in diverse industries including Excell Materials, Fleischer's Bagels, Design Space, Inc., and Versatile Processing Group. He also played an active role in managing a number of other portfolio companies.
      Mr. Soeldner began his career as a Credit Analyst with LaSalle Bank in Chicago, IL. He was also an Assistant Vice President and Commercial Lender in the middle market banking group at Bank of America in Chicago, where he provided asset-based and leveraged cash flow loans to middle market companies. Mr. Soeldner also served as Manager of Finance and Operations for the national CPA firm BDO Seidman’s e-commerce consulting subsidiary.
      Brian earned his MBA in Finance and Management Strategy from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and received his BBA in Finance from the University of Iowa.