VEDC Gets New Chief

The Valley Economic Development Center, or VEDC, has appointed Quentin Strode as president and chief executive, effective immediately. Strode joins the nonprofit small business lender from Artifex Capital & Advisory in Los Angeles, where he consulted clients on Small Business Administration loans and devised economic development strategies for minority communities as the firm’s managing director. His previous experience includes more than 10 years in regional management roles at Bank of America Corp. and U.S. Bancorp’s subsidiary U.S. Bank. “The members of the search committee spent long hours researching and interviewing numerous candidates and we are confident that Quentin will be a very positive addition to the organization,” Pegi Matsuda, immediate past chairman of the VEDC board and chairman of the selection committee, said in a statement. Strode replaces Roberto Barragan, who led the Sherman Oaks lender for 17 years. Barragan left in October in what insiders at the time described as an involuntary departure.