We’re going to offer a few words of good wishes to Tom Thomas, former President & CEO of Pacific Capital Bancorp, parent of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust.

Thomas retired Feb. 29, capping a 42-year career in banking. He worked for Chase Manhattan and Security Pacific/Bank of American before joining SBB&T in 1994. He showed courage and leadership when the bank headquarters burned to the ground. He built a formidable branch banking network that is the envy of the industry and he was incredibly generous with his time for nonprofits. Among very few others, he was early to recognize the value that a weekly business publication would bring to the Central Coast region and his support was helpful in getting the Business Times off the ground.

The bank that exists today very much reflects the blueprint that retired Chairs Don Anderson, Dave Spainhour and Thomas created nearly two decades ago. That is quite an accomplishment.