W.H. (Bill) Bauer, Jr., chairman of the board of First National Bank in Port Lavaca, has announced several promotions at the bank. Richard T. (Terry) Cullen has been promoted to President; Dee Harkey has been promoted to Executive Vice President, and Erica Sparks has been promoted to Assistant Cahsier at the Seadrift Branch. Cullen was also elected to the bank’s Board of Directors.

Cullen was born and raised in Victoria, Texas and spent 25 years in banking at Victoria Bank and Trust and then First Victoria National Bank. After four years of banking in San Antonio with Falcon International Bank, Cullen joined First National Bank in Port Lavaca in 2007 as an Executive Vice President. Cullen graduated from Saint Joseph High School in Victoria before graduating from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. He also earned and holds the certification as a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor (CTFA). Cullen, a resident of the Six Mile Community in Calhoun County, is married to the former Laney Kelliher. They have two children and three grandchildren. He serves on the advisory board of the Victoria College Calhoun County, the board of Habitat for Humanity in Calhoun County and is also a member of the Knights of Columbus and Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church.

Harkey was born in Victoria but has been a resident of Calhoun County for over thirty years. A certified public accountant, Harkey began his accounting career in Victoria after graduating from Texas A&M University. After eleven years in public accounting, he began a career in banking, and has served in senior management positions at First State Bank & Trust Company, Port Lavaca; First Victoria National Bank; and for the past six years at First National Bank in Port Lavaca, where he manages the bank’s trust department. Active in the community, Harkey has held volunteer leadership positions in numerous charitable community organizations. He and his wife Shirley, a retired CCISD math teacher, have three children and four grandchildren.

Sparks has been employed by First National Bank in Port Lavaca for over eight years at the bank’s Seadrift Branch. She is an active member of the Seadrift Chamber and volunteers with several local civic organizations. Erica and her husband Clay have two children who occupy any spare time that they have.

First National Bank in Port Lavaca, established in 1957, is a locally owned award winning bank with assets in excess of $212 million. The bank has branches in Port Lavaca as well as the neighboring communities of Seadrift and Port O’Connor.