TriCo Bancshares (TCBK) (“TriCo”), the holding company for Tri Counties Bank, is pleased to announce that John S. Fleshood has been hired as the new Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for TriCo and Tri Counties Bank effective December 1, 2016.

Mr. Fleshood will replace Carol Ward, TriCo’s current Chief Operating Officer, who previously announced her retirement earlier this year. Mrs. Ward’s retirement was disclosed by TriCo in a Form 8-K dated August 12, 2016.

Most recently, Mr. Fleshood has served as the Chief Risk Officer at Wintrust Financial Corporation, a $25 billion banking institution headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. During his 11 years at Wintrust, in addition to his Risk Management assignment, he held several other senior level positions including Market Head for Mortgage Banking and Market Head for Community Banking. Prior to Wintrust, he spent 13 years at Fifth Third Bancorp headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. At Fifth Third, Mr. Fleshood held several executive level positions including serving as the CFO for Fifth Third’s largest banking affiliate, and Treasury Manager for the multibank holding company. He began his banking career with an 8 year period at Indiana National Bank. Mr. Fleshood received a Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana University with a concentration in Business Administration and Finance, and his MBA from Butler University.

TriCo President and CEO Richard Smith stated, “We are very fortunate to have a leader of John’s background join our Executive Team. We believe John’s breadth of experience in banking and with larger institutions will be an important dynamic for our growing banking company. His perspective will be a significant contribution to our growth efforts, both organically and through strategic acquisitions.”