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Before Capra Bank Chairman and CEO Tut Fuller purchased a bank, he knew he wanted to do business here in the state.

鈥淚n my plans, I was coming to New Mexico,鈥� said Fuller, whose Capra Bank just opened its first sa国际传媒官网网页入口 branch this month. 鈥淚 still remember when my dad started the bank in New Mexico 鈥� New Mexico Bank & Trust. I think I was 14 years old. I have a lot of fond memories as a kid, getting to go on work trips with my dad and coming to New Mexico.鈥�

The bank, headquarted out of Dubuque, Iowa, opened on July 15 at 400 Tijeras NW in Downtown sa国际传媒官网网页入口. The bank, like many others, offers the typical services 鈥� checking and savings accounts as well as loans and lines of credit on both the business and consumer sides.

Fuller, a fourth-generation banker, previously worked for Heartland Financial, the parent company of New Mexico Bank & Trust.

His family, who held stock in Heartland, took what they had and sold it. Fuller said he and his brother used their share of the money to purchase Peoples Savings Bank, which they changed in the spring of 2023 to Capra Bank 鈥渨hen we did our rebrand and relaunch.鈥�

The bank has locations spread across Dubuque, Iowa, Montezuma, Iowa, Lubbock, Texas and, now, sa国际传媒官网网页入口.

In coming to sa国际传媒官网网页入口, Fuller found a formidable partner in Andres Garcia, whose career in banking spans nearly 20 years in New Mexico. Garcia serves as president of the bank鈥檚 operations in New Mexico.

A graduate of Del Norte High School and New Mexico Highlands University, Garcia began his banking journey in 2006 at Bank of America, working for Rick Wadley, the bank鈥檚 former president in New Mexico. He followed Wadley, who he calls a mentor, to Bank of the West a few years later and worked with him there until Wadley鈥檚 retirement in 2017, he said.

鈥淎nd that was my first step into leadership,鈥� Garcia said. 鈥淚 took over the commercial department for Bank of the West locally, and had about seven direct reports like a sales staff, support staff, and we managed a little over a billion dollars in assets under management.鈥�

He also met another mentor, Michael Wamsganz, now the president of Citywide Banks in Denver, while working at Bank of the West. Garcia was in Denver in late 2014, managing his New Mexico clients from nearly 500 miles away as he spent time up there with his daughter, who was being treated for a brain tumor.

鈥淗e basically gave me an office in the building that I had no real reason to be in,鈥� Garcia said of Wamsganz, then an executive for Bank of the West鈥檚 west region in Denver. 鈥淚 easily could have worked out of my apartment that I was living in. But he just really took me in and made me one of his own.鈥�

Garcia joined New Mexico Bank & Trust in 2021, most recently serving as president and CEO. Garcia said he鈥檚 elated that he鈥檚 been able to find success in his home state, now most recently leading Capra Bank鈥檚 local operations.

鈥淚 hate that there鈥檚 a stigma that people think they have to leave to be successful,鈥� he said. 鈥淗aving those mentors and seeing what we had to go through has really allowed me to have a clear vision.鈥�

Asked what Capra Bank鈥檚 plans are for the future in sa国际传媒官网网页入口, Fuller said he鈥檇 like for the financial institution to be 鈥渁 leading bank in the community.鈥�

鈥淲e have some of the best 鈥� if not the best 鈥� bankers in sa国际传媒官网网页入口,鈥� Fuller said. 鈥淎nd we鈥檙e combining that with some of the best technology in sa国际传媒官网网页入口. And we鈥檙e throwing that into a culture that empowers those people to do what they do best.鈥�