A message from your market president

Jacob is a seasoned banking professional with 20 years of experience serving the Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati communities. As the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Regional Market President for First Financial Bank, Jacob is committed to stewarding commercial banking relationships for organizations and their families. He specializes in working with closely held family businesses and foreign-owned manufacturing relationships and has an impressive portfolio of 20 ongoing middle market relationships.

Throughout his banking career, Jacob has received numerous awards, including being named the top commercial banker in the bank in 2022. However, he is most proud of the development of his team that supports his clients.

Jacob is passionate about serving his community and serves on the board of several organizations, including the Campbell County Economic Progress Authority, Catalytic Fund Finance Committee, Campbell County Leadership Action Group and NKY Chamber of Commerce committees. He has also been involved in many fundraising teams such as United Way, Tri-ed/BE NKY, ACUE, St. Elizabeth Foundation, and Campbell County Youth Athletics.

Caroline Bove joined First Financial Bank in 2015 and found her niche in working with Public Fund Entities. During her time as a Public Funds Officer, Caroline has earned the trust and respect from her clients and has been able to save many public fund entities time, money, and peace of mind.

Her expertise and passion for assisting clients find the best solution for their needs has led to a growing portfolio of long-term clients.

Caroline is a 2022 graduate of First Financial Bank’s LEAD Program and is a 2023 participant of the Cincinnati Chamber’s C-Change program.

Growing up with a brother on the autism spectrum, Caroline likes to give back to the autism community by serving on the Board and Finance Committee of Cincinnati Center for Autism. Caroline also serves on the Board of SWOAFP.

Kevin brings 35 years of experience to First Financial Bank, giving him an advantage when helping his clients. He has spent his career focused on middle market and specialty industries. 

With an eclectic client base, Kevin uses a holistic approach to understand the goals and overall business to customize the best solutions. Those solutions and Kevin’s individualized attention has allowed him to keep some clients for nearly 20 years. 

Chris began his banking career seven years ago and has spent the last four with First Financial. Through networking and mentorships, he was able to make the transition from the Retail Banking group to Treasury Management in 2022.

Chris has assisted a multitude of Commercial Real Estate companies with streamlining their daily, manual processes.

Outside of the office, you’ll find Chris spending time with family and friends, hiking with his dog, Baxter, and playing sports. Originally from Oxford, OH, Chris is a proud graduate of Miami University.

Robert’s experience includes several levels within the commercial banking sector. Since joining First Financial Bank, he has transitioned from underwriter to relationship manager, and works with clients in a variety of industries including merger and acquisitions firms.

Staying active within his community, Robert serves on the Board of the Ambassador Program at Best Point Behavior Health, a nonprofit organization and a leading provider of education and mental health treatment for children facing significant social, behavioral, and learning challenges.

With more than a decade of experience, Adrienne joined First Financial Bank as a financial center manager before transitioning to business banking. She works with her clients using a holistic, personalized approach whether it be to finance a new building, facilitate the purchase of new equipment or other lending needs, all while nurturing their overall growth.

Being a part of her client’s success and empowering other female leaders in the city is what drives Adrienne to be successful in her own career.

Staying connected to her community is important for Adrienne. She aligns herself with other women-led organizations and businesses and knows she is where she belongs, being a value add to businesses in the region. 

Serving his community as a Relationship Manager for almost a decade, Manny understands the importance of having a banking partner that can be the best advocate for a client.

Born and raised in Mexico City, Manny came from a family of entrepreneurs. He takes his background and treats every interaction with the utmost relevance, respect, and care.

Manny has been able to provide capital to help multiple businesses achieve sustainable growth. His consultative approach has earned the trust of his clients. He has received awards from the bank including a growth performance award for NKY and completed the bank’s internal Leadership Development Program (LEAD).

He is passionate about serving in the community and serves on the board of multiple organizations including Learning Grove, The Building Industry Association of NKY, Aviatra Accelerators, and Co-founded Emerging Leaders of NKY a non-profit that helps young professionals grow in their career. Manny is also a 2-time Ironman finisher. 

After having honorably served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years, Scott joined the banking industry. He has been assisting customers with their financial needs for the past 19 years. Focusing on their success has enabled him to become a pivotal adviser in banking.

Scott received the Annual Pinnacle Award, given to the top 5% of Relationship Managers nationwide, for having provided his clients with exceptional levels of service that assisted them in reaching their goals.

Not only is Scott hands on with his clients, but he has also been active in his community. He has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and has been involved in local youth sports teams for many years as well.

Jeff Judd joins First Financial after 20 years in the commercial banking business. His career includes roles at US Bank and Huntington Bank, and primarily in the Butler/Warren County region, so he is thrilled to be joining the team at his hometown bank.

Through his career, Jeff has established strong portfolios with clients in manufacturing, service-related and family-owned businesses. He has a track record for building trust and sustaining relationships with them for many years.

Keeping with First Financial’s value of being Proudly Local, Jeff is currently a board member for his local CDC, Alloy Development, and serves as the financial advisor and a member of the media team for his local church in Trenton, Ohio.

When he isn’t dedicating time to finding the best custom banking solutions for your business, you might find him on the open road on a Harley Davidson—he has owned three of them!

Aaron brings nearly two decades of commercial banking experience. He focuses on manufacturing, construction, distribution, wholesale, and service industries.  He has significant experience in complex lending solutions.

Having a wide range of financing experience, Aaron has lent for the following customer and prospect needs: growth, acquisition, management buyout, international expansion, dividend recaps, and ESOP.

Throughout his career, Aaron has been named a Market All-Star, a Performance Award Nominee, and acknowledged as a Top 5 National Producer.

Shawn joins First Financial Bank with 22 years of experience in Commercial and Corporate Banking, Portfolio Risk Management, and Private Banking.  He has extensive senior-level management experience across several bank disciplines, as well as deep expertise in leading cross-functional teams and structuring complex credits within the emerging and middle market lending space.

A formally credit-trained banker, Shawn has a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Dayton and an MBA from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business.

Shawn is also an active participant in the Cincinnati business community. He is a graduate of the Chamber’s C-Change program and has served on the Board of Trustees and Finance Committee for the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio as well as Co-Chaired the ArtsWave capital campaign for a past employer.

Paul began his banking career with a regional bank, focusing his time on their commercial loan officer training program. He completed the program and went to spend almost two more decades in regional banks in the area. During that time, he did loan syndications and interest rate protection products. He then opened a Cincinnati office for a top 5 national bank. After a while, Paul joined First Financial Bank.

Over the course of his career, Paul has been fortunate enough to partner with a wide array of companies in a wide array of industries. With very few exceptions, Paul’s entire banking career has focused on entrepreneurial and multi-generational companies.

Phil has more than 25 years of experience in financial services including Treasury Management, Commercial Lending, Consumer Lending, Mortgage and Retail across multiple financial institutions. He has had successful roles as both an individual contributor and in sales leadership.

He joined First Financial Bank in 2022 to find a home that is more creative, flexible, nimble, and responsive.

Phil’s TM experience includes earning the Annual Pinnacle Award as top TM Officer, leading a TM taskforce, creating a TM sales training program and mentoring new TM Officers.

Active in his community, Phil volunteers as a retreat leader, leading a men’s charitable organization and coaches youth baseball.  He and his family love to travel and have visited all 50 states.

Growing up, Billy envisioned he would follow his family’s path as an entrepreneur. Rather, during the great recession in 2008, Billy realized he wanted to work in a profession where he could help entrepreneurs, like his dad and grandfather.

Working as a commercial banker for the past ten years, Billy works with a diverse variety of clients and entrepreneur’s seeking mutually beneficial relationships built on trust and communication. He comes to work, eager to learn and serve the local business community each day.

Billy believes it’s integral for clients to know bankers are their advocate in the marketplace and will support their needs. He helps his clients navigate through tough times and takes great pride in helping entrepreneurs successfully grow and sell their business to create generational wealth.

Endorsed by his clients, Billy was recognized as one of Cincinnati’s Forty under 40 recipients. An active member in his community, Billy serves on several local organizations, including Archbishop Moeller Alumni Association, Association for Corporate Growth, and Cincinnati Exit Planning Institute.