Heritage Oaks Bank has promoted William Filippin to executive vice president / chief credit officer and Ronald Oliveira to president / chief operating officer. Lawrence P. Ward will continue to serve as chief executive officer of the Bank and as president / chief executive officer of Heritage Oaks Bancorp, the holding company for Heritage Oaks Bank.

Before his promotion, Filippin served the bank as senior vice president / commercial lending manager since joining the bank in April 2009. Prior to this, Filippin served as chief credit officer for American Principle Bank.

Oliveira had been serving as executive vice president / chief credit officer / chief operating officer since he joined the team in July 2009. Prior to his appointment with the bank, Oliveira served as senior vice president at Rabobank, assisting with the expansion of both its deposit and lending presence in the mid-state region of California. Prior to that, Oliveira was chairman at Equipoint Financial Services, a $2 billion diversified real estate banking institution.

"I am excited to announce these enhancements to our executive management team," said CEO Larry Ward. "I have worked closely with Ron and Bill over the last 12 months in a very difficult economic environment. Their expertise has helped to stabilize the bank's asset quality and I look forward to working with them as we go forward in these challenging times."

The company also announced that its executive vice president / chief financial officer, Margaret Torres, tendered her resignation to be effective on Aug. 31. The company has instituted a search for an appropriate replacement, who will be subject to prior regulatory approval or non-objection.

"It has been my great pleasure to work side-by-side with Margaret for the last 11 years," Ward said. "She has been a wonderful asset to the Bank and we will all miss her. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors."

Heritage Oaks Bancorp is the holding company for Heritage Oaks Bank which operates as Heritage Oaks Bank and Business First, a division of Heritage Oaks Bank.

Heritage Oaks Bank has its headquarters plus one branch office in Paso Robles, two branch offices in San Luis Obispo, single branch offices in Cambria, Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Templeton, San Miguel and Morro Bay and three branch offices in Santa Maria. Heritage Oaks Bank conducts commercial banking business in San Luis Obispo County and Northern Santa Barbara County.

For more information, visit www.heritageoaksbancorp.com.