Failed bank CEO lands new job

SARASOTA — Steve Jonsson, former CEO of two separate community banks in Bradenton, has joined the business and real estate banking team at Sarasota-based Insignia Bank.

Jonsson co-founded Flagship National Bank in 1999, part of a class of nearly a dozen local community banks that launched over a two-year period. The Rivolta family, which operates several businesses, including a Sarasota-based yacht company, co-founded Flagship. Jonsson was named president and CEO of Flagship, and grew the bank to $190 million in assets in a decade.

But a series of sour real estate loans sunk the bank. Federal and state regulators shuttered Flagship Oct. 23, 2009, when it had four branches in Sarasota and Manatee counties. Lake City-based First Federal Bank of Florida took over the failed remains of Flagship through a loss-share agreement with regulators on $130 million in assets.