Matt Pieniazek is president and CEO of Darling Consulting Group.  Mr. Pieniazek works with banks nationwide to ensure that their asset liability management process becomes a sustainable profit center through accurate risk assessment and the development of tailored solutions for earnings enhancement and risk mitigation.  He is a frequent speaker and author on balance sheet management topics.

Prior to DCG’s inception in 1991, Mr. Pieniazek was an audit manager and consultant at KPMG Peat Marwick. 

Jim Reuter is CEO of FirstBank. FirstBank, with assets of $17 billion, is Colorado’s second largest bank and operates more than 120 locations in Colorado, Arizona and California with more than 2,500 employees.

Mr. Reuter previously served as FirstBank’s COO overseeing loan operations, IT, online banking, payments, contact center, online account/loan acquisition and treasury management. He is involved with industry efforts in technology and payments including the American Banker Association – chair of the Payments System Advisory Committee and represented medium financial institutions on the Federal Reserve Faster Payments Task Force Steering Committee.

Roy Young is senior vice president of mid cap and community banking at U.S. Bank.  Mr. Young oversees the relationship management coverage team specializing in the regional and community banking sector.  This team of 11 professionals focuses their relationship management efforts on community and regional banks and other depository institutions nationwide.  Through his 15 years at U.S. Bank, Mr. Young has helped lead their efforts in providing strategic capital and liquidity needs for banks and bank holding companies while also partnering with them on deriving solutions for their hedging, efficiency and revenue growth objectives.  

Mr. Young has over 35 years of industry experience with leadership roles at Wachovia, its predecessor banks, First Union, CoreStates and the Philadelphia National Bank, as well as community banks in the Philadelphia market. 

Mr. Young holds FINRA Series 7 & 63 securities licenses and has been a recognized speaker at banking industry association events.

Rob Blackwell is chief content officer and head of external affairs for IntraFi Network LLC.  He is the host of IntraFi’s podcast, Banking with Interest, which features bankers, policymakers, journalists and analysts discussing the biggest issues in the financial services industry right now.

Prior to joining IntraFi Network LLC, Mr. Blackwell served as editor-in-chief and Washington Bureau chief of American Banker and covered financial services as a journalist for nearly two decades.  During his tenure, American Banker won more than a dozen major journalism awards, including its first Grand Neal Award for a podcast focused on the public policy implications of vacant housing.  In 2017, he was awarded the Timothy White Award, which recognizes journalists who display “extraordinary courage, integrity, and passion.” He has appeared on NPR, BBC, CNBC, Fox Business and C-SPAN as an expert on financial regulatory policy.