Ron Kientz runs the fast track with Compass Bank.

• Author: Bronikowski, Lynn
• Position: Executive Edge - Senior vice president - Brief Article

Perhaps it was destiny. Tom Kientz earned a perfect score on the math section of his SAT college-entrance exam and today at age 35 is senior vice president of Compass Bank, heading up retail operations at 24 branches for the state's youngest and fifth largest banking company.

The son of banker Ron Kientz, who retired three years ago as president of BankOne in Englewood, the younger Kientz never intended to pursue a banking career when he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado in 1989.

"The only jobs I could find in that field at the time were in Southern California, and I wanted to stay in Colorado," said Kientz, a Colorado native who earned an MBA from the University of Colorado at Denver.

So his part-time college job as a teller for Central Banks turned into a full-time job as a loan officer. He never looked back -- eventually helping to pilot 19 bank mergers and acquisitions during the industry's 1990S merger mania.

His 16 years with U.S. Bank eventually took him to the Portland, Ore., area where as district manager he oversaw 51 branches. But Colorado always beckoned, and during a visit home he stumbled on a newspaper ad for Compass Bank. Kientz jumped at the chance to come home and sign on in June 2000 with one of the state's most aggressive and fastest-growing banking companies.

Birmingham, Ala.-based Compass, with assets of $22 billion, moved into the Denver market following the April 2000 acquisition of Megabank Financial Corp. The September 2000 acquisition of FirsTier Corp. followed, giving Compass 24 branches across metro Denver, Greeley and Colorado Springs.

"We've seen growth rates of 15 percent to 20 percent, and this year have seen core deposits grow just since March by 30 percent," said Kientz during a pre-Christmas interview. "We would like to...