SALISBURY — First Bank has named Jeff Wetmore to a newly created position and appointed Dr. Steve Yang and Bruce Jones to the bank’s local advisory board.
With 14 years of banking experience, Wetmore is First Bank’s new city executive for Salisbury. He most recently served as a commercial relationship manager for VantageSouth Bank and prior to that, as a commercial lender at Community Bank of Rowan, where he worked for Jones.
Wetmore has lived in Rowan County for 35 years and graduated from West Rowan High School in 1993. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
City executive is a new position for the Salisbury branches. Wetmore will work with Lisa Houston, manager of Salisbury main branch, and Millie Cress, manager of the Jake Alexander Boulevard branch, to grow market share, First Bank said.
Wetmore volunteers for Habitat for Humanity Rowan County and the Rowan County United Way and is active with the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce. He lives in Salisbury with his wife, Betsy, and two children.
Yang has spent 16 years as a general dentist. He worked for 10 years as a partner with Dr. W.W. Blackman and spent the last six as a solo practitioner at Yang Family Dentistry.
Originally from Seoul, Korea, Yang has lived in Rowan for 35 years and attended East Rowan High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a DDS degree from UNC School Of Dentistry.
Yang lives in Salisbury with his wife, Lori, and four children.
Jones has 31 years of banking experience. He joined Capitol Bancorp in 2004 as the southeast regional president and in 2006, he started Community Bank of Rowan, which is now VantageSouth. Before that, Jones was president and CEO of Rowan Bank, a community bank with assets of $160 million that merged with First National Bank in 2002. He currently owns Jones Property Management & Realty Inc.
Jones also serves on boards for RowanWorks Economic Development, Novant Health Rowan Medical Center, Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center and Livingstone College. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University and lives in China Grove with his wife Rebecca. They have three daughters and three grandchildren.
Janet Abernethy, First Bank senior vice president and regional executive, worked with Jones for more than 20 years.
“With Jeff and Bruce on board, we have our team back together,” Abernethy said.