Executive Management

Kevin P. Riley has been President and Chief Executive Officer of First Interstate Bank and a member of the Board of Directors since September 2015. Prior to his current role, Mr. Riley served as an Executive Vice President and the Chief Financial Officer from 2013 to 2015. Mr. Riley leads First Interstate Bank with expertise drawn from more than 33 years of experience in the banking industry. Since January 2019, he has represented the Federal Reserve Bank, Ninth District, serving as a member of the Federal Advisory Council. Mr. Riley also serves on the Pacific Bankers Management Institute Board of Directors. Prior to joining the organization, Mr. Riley was an Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Berkshire Hills Bancorp in Massachusetts and he served in various executive-level positions with KeyCorp. Mr. Riley earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Marcy D. Mutch has been Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since September 2015. Prior to her current role, Ms. Mutch served as the Bank’s Investor Relations Officer from 2010 to 2015 and as Vice President of Corporate Tax from 2006 to 2010. Ms. Mutch contributes over 30 years of financial industry experience and expertise to First Interstate. Additionally, she currently serves on the Montana Chamber of Commerce, Board of Directors. Prior to joining the Bank, she served in tax and finance positions with Citizens Development Company and as a tax manager for Eide Bailly, LLP. Ms. Mutch earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Montana State University in Billings, Montana.

Scott Erkonen is the Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer for First Interstate Bank, joining in February 2022. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Erkonen served as the Chief Information Officer for Great Western Bank since 2016, and provided overall leadership and executive oversight for Information Technology and Information Security. With over 25 years of experience in the industry, Mr. Erkonen has held various roles within the industry, including: Senior Vice President of Home Federal Bank (acquired by Great Western Bank in 2016); Director of Client Relationships for Orange Parachute – specializing in Information Security, Cyber Risk Management and Information Technology Governance; and Infrastructure and Information Security for First Premier Bank and First Premier Bankcard. Mr. Erkonen currently holds a CISSP designation, in addition to being one of the first to lead an ISO 27001 certification effort worldwide in 2005. Mr. Erkonen currently serves on the Board of First Priority of the Great Plains, and remains active in the community as a volunteer for various nonprofit organizations and advisory boards. Mr. Erkonen attended Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD and is a former faculty member at the Graduate School of Banking located at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Kirk D. Jensen is Executive Vice President and General Counsel, and joined First Interstate in January 2016. Prior to his employment with First Interstate, Mr. Jensen was a founding partner of the law firm BuckleySandler LLP in Washington, D.C., where he advised financial institutions on a variety of regulatory compliance matters and represented financial institutions in federal and state government enforcement actions and in high-stakes litigation. In 2018 he was recognized with the Global Counsel Award for Financial Services-Regulatory by the Association of Corporate Counsel and Lexology. He is also a fellow of the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers, and has held various leadership positions in the American Bar Association’s Business Law and Litigation Sections. Mr. Jensen clerked for the Honorable Deanell Reece Tacha, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from Duke University School of Law in Durham, North Carolina, and his Bachelor of Arts degree from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

Karlyn M. Knieriem has served as the Company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer since 2022. With over 25 years of experience in financial services across a variety of roles including finance, treasury, retail, credit and risk management, Ms. Knieriem first began this role in 2018 with Great Western Bank – originally joining as the Head of Enterprise Risk Management in 2016. In addition to these roles, Ms. Knieriem also enjoyed a lengthy career at First National Bank of Omaha where she worked in a number of senior leadership positions. Ms. Knieriem earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree with specialization in Accounting from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.

Russell A. Lee has been the Company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Banking Officer since January 2020. Mr. Lee leads the retail, commercial, and wealth management teams. Mr. Lee joined the Company as an Executive Vice President in August of 2018 to lead Special Projects. Prior to this, Mr. Lee was President and CEO of Inland Northwest Bank (INB) until it was acquired by First Interstate. Mr. Lee has over 40 years of community banking experience including serving as President of two other Pacific Northwest community banks prior to INB. Mr. Lee has a Master of Business Administration Degree from Western Washington University as well as an undergraduate degree in Cello Performance from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

Gary Lorenz has been Chief Specialty Banking Officer since May 2022. Prior to his current role, Mr. Lorenz served for over five years as Market President in Cedar Falls, Iowa for Great Western Bank, which was acquired by First Interstate in February 2022. A 30-year veteran of the financial services industry, Mr. Lorenz has served in a variety of leadership roles and has vast experience in the direct/indirect lending and retail banking space. He is a graduate of Hawkeye Institute of Technology (Hawkeye Community College) with a degree in accounting.

David C. Redmon has been Chief of Staff since July 2019 after having served for a year as the Bank’s Chief Data Officer. Prior to his employment with the Company, Mr. Redmon served as a senior leader in the Department of Defense for over 30 years, culminating as a member of the Board of Directors at the National Security Agency, and the Command Team at United States Cyber Command. He earned a Master of Science in Accounting and Information Systems from University of Maryland University College and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Saint Leo University.

Kris Robbins has been Chief Operations Officer since May 2022. Ms. Robbins has extensive banking experience serving in a variety of leadership roles throughout her 25-year career. She has unquestionable integrity and is a natural, positive leader known for building loyal teams. Prior to her current role, Ms. Robbins served as First Interstate's Director of Loan Operations. In this role, Ms. Robbins was responsible for leading key improvement efforts in the lending channels to better align the work to support both clients and bankers. She has experience in process improvement, including Lean, Six Sigma, and Agile methods. Ms. Robbins worked as an Executive Vice President for Sterling Bank until its merger with Umpqua Bank, when she was named Executive Vice President and Director of Loan Operations and the Call Center. Ms. Robbins is an active community volunteer, focusing her efforts on supporting the young people and the underserved in her community. Her efforts in these areas align around safe places to assemble, quality education, and technical training offerings, all which support a healthy community.

Rachel B. Turitto has been the Company’s Chief Human Resources Officer since November of 2019. Prior to her current role, Ms. Turitto served as the bank’s Director of Human Resources from 2017 to 2019. Ms. Turitto contributes 15+ years of diverse experience across multiple human resource disciplines including compensation, benefits, employee and cultural engagement, leadership and development, employee relations, HRIS, payroll and recruitment. A native of Billings, Turitto earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Mary, serves as a board member of the Associated Employers Group, and enjoys volunteering with Yellowstone County 4-H.