Murray joins Bank of the West as its first comms head

Also joining the $1.7 billion company is Patrice Smith as VP of marketing communications. Smith was previously director of corporate communications at Blue Shield of California.

"This company is in a growth and expansion phase that will ideally see it become twice as large within the next 10 years," said Murray, adding that she took the post because of the opportunity to build the company's communications function.

"I want to run my team like a news bureau, where each person has a beat," said Murray, who will report to vice chairman and chief administrative officer Stephen Glenn.

Murray joins from Wong and Murray, the Walnut Creek, CA-based agency she co-founded with her husband Mark Murray 17 years ago.

Bank of the West, the third largest commercial bank west of the Mississippi River, has a presence in 19 states.

This article was first published on PR Week USA