Bank of the West, the nation's 4th largest lender to agriculture, has promoted John DeRuiter to commercial banking regional vice president and appointed him to lead its Visalia Agribusiness & Rural Commercial Banking Center. The center provides commercial loans and a wide array of banking and advisory services to agribusiness and corporate customers in Visalia and the Central Valley.

As regional vice president and manager, DeRuiter oversees new business development and relationship management in the Visalia commercial banking marketplace. DeRuiter joined the bank in 1990 and has 24 years of banking experience in the region.