Valdamier Collens Named Senior Vice President And USVI Region Executive Of FirstBank

Cassan Pancham, FirstBank executive vice-president and business group executive in Puerto Rico, announced today that Valdamier O. Collens has joined FirstBank as senior vice-president and U.S. Virgin Islands region executive, effective September 13.

In this position, Mr. Collens will be in charge of spearheading and continuing FirstBank’s strategic growth in its USVI business operations – St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix, FirstBank said.

Mr. Collens joins the bank with over 20 years of experience and knowledge in both the public and private sectors. Prior to joining FirstBank, Mr. Collens worked for the Government of the Virgin Islands, where he held various executive positions until assuming the role of commissioner of Finance and executive director of the Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority in 2015. According to FirstBank, throughout his career, Mr. Collens has demonstrated successful leadership and accomplishments in financial planning and analysis, financial reporting, economic and strategic planning, and modeling, to drive organizational results.

“Mr. Collens is the ideal person to lead FirstBank’s Virgin Islands Region in its journey. Within the past few years, the Bank has made significant investments in innovation and the enhancement of the overall customer experience,” said Mr. Pancham of Mr. Collen’s appointment. “Now with Mr. Collens’ direction and the support of the management team and staff, FirstBank is in a great position to continue growing its leadership position in the market and maintain its commitment to the Virgin Islands community”

Mr. Collens holds a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts and is a certified public account. He will be based in St. Thomas.