San Diego’s Doug Sawyer, one of the top executives for Bank of America in California, only got into banking by accident … his first love was baseball.
For two years in the mid-’70s he lived the sporting dream as a pro baseball umpire and only filled in as a bank teller to help make ends meet during the off-season.
However, when it came time for some serious career choices, banking won out over baseball.
“Being a baseball umpire was a pretty rough life,” Sawyer said. “I was on the road for six months of the year and by this time I had a young family.”
So, he opted to stay with the bank and the rest, as they say, is history. For more than 20 years, Sawyer has been compiling the sort of resume which makes him banking’s equivalent to an all-star.
Just last month, Bank of America appointed him to the newly created position of San Diego market president, responsible for coordinating all aspects of the bank’s operations in San Diego County.
“I’m pleased to announce that Doug Sawyer is assuming this leadership role in San Diego,” said Liam McGee, president of Bank of America California.
“It’s his responsibility to leverage the bank’s business units and all of our resources to address the needs of our customers and communities.”
This adds to Sawyer’s role as head of the small business banking division for the whole of California , a responsibility covering around 35,000 businesses with sales of between $1 million and $10 million plus the bank’s response team of about 325 client managers.
Not bad going for a self-described “local kid” who grew up here and left San Diego State University in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in business and accounting.
He joined Great American Bank in 1979 and was there for the next 11 years, during which time he attended the University of Virginia’s Graduate School of Retail Banking in 1986.
In 1990, Sawyer became senior vice president and division manager in San Diego for Security Pacific Bank. Two years later, in what was then the largest bank merger in history, Security Pacific merged with Bank of America.
From that time on, the 51-year-old has filled a succession of key posts within Bank of America, starting as executive vice president in charge of around 220 branches throughout central California.
As head of retail support services in 1993 and 1994, Sawyer’s responsibilities included seven customer service centers, quality management, technical branch operations support, and operational strategy and systems implementation.
After that he took charge of the southeastern division responsible for about 270 retail banking centers scattered across San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial counties.
The next step up came in 1998 when Sawyer was appointed small business executive for Southern California, a position which was expanded last August to include the entire state.
Sawyer said it’s important for the people of San Diego to understand that a very senior bank officer is doing this job based in San Diego and not out of Los Angeles or San Francisco.
Bank of America, with $672 billion in assets, is the largest bank in the United States and boasts full-service operations in 21 states plus the District of Columbia.
Sawyer said Bank of America has by far the most accounts of any bank, is No. 1 in terms of dollar deposits and by almost any other measure ranks either first or second.
The bank has been in San Diego since 1922 and today has 73 full-service centers here, with more than 2,000 staff. It is, Sawyer said, the leading small business bank in San Diego.
– Title Awarded To Two Dozen Execs
Sawyer is one of 23 senior executives recently appointed market presidents in key areas of California, though in his case it will mean virtually continuing the same job he’s been doing for the past eight years.
However, there will be an extra public relations dimension with Sawyer very much becoming the face of the bank in San Diego. He sees the role like that of a small bank CEO , someone accessible who people can identify with and recognize.
Part of the job, he said, is to help the community understand the bank better and appreciate that while it’s a large and diverse organization, it’s also a local bank.
Sawyer, who has lived and worked in San Diego almost his entire life, now finds himself more involved than ever in the life of the community. He is a board member of the San Diego Opera and treasurer of the Naturelands Project, and also involved with the Bank of America Foundation in San Diego, which administers grants to arts, cultural and other nonprofit groups.
Sawyer is actively involved in the San Diego Downtown Partnership, advisory committees for Scripps Hospital and the Senior Community Centers of San Diego, the board of Youth Education Town and the Holiday Bowl committee.
– A Role With The Chamber
From 1996 to 1999, he also served with distinction on the executive committee of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, where he impressed the president and CEO, Jessie Knight.
“He has been a great asset to the chamber and a great voice for the business community,” Knight said.
“We hope he continues to stay involved with the organization. I think he is one of the great assets this community has in terms of business leadership.”
Sawyer’s wife, Marilyn, is also heavily involved in this community role, as well as juggling family commitments revolving around their children, Todd, 30; 16-year-old Marc, and a daughter, Paige, who’s 18.
Community and banking meetings and functions mean Sawyer is out three or four nights per week plus some weekends. “A meal at home is a wonderful thing,” he said.
Pearson is a free-lance writer for the San Diego Business Journal.
