MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 31, 2026--
U.S. Bank is continuing to expand its business banking presence nationally, adding new bankers in Florida, Georgia, Texas and Arizona who serve businesses with annual sales between $2.5 million and $50 million.
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The growth in Florida and Georgia marks the first time the bank has placed business bankers in those two states, the latest step in U.S. Bank’s strategy to support clients outside its traditional 26-state branch footprint. The bank also is expanding in Texas, another state outside its branch territory, by adding more bankers in Dallas following last year’s launch of a business banking team in Houston.
In addition, U.S. Bank has hired additional business bankers in Phoenix, where it has a growing branch presence.
“Our continued investment in talented bankers reflects the strong demand we’re seeing from business owners who want a trusted banking partner with national capabilities and local market expertise,” said Dee O’Dell, head of business banking sales at U.S. Bank. “Whether we’re entering new markets such as Florida and Georgia or expanding in fast-growing regions like Texas and Arizona, our goal is the same: helping businesses access the financial solutions, advice and industry expertise they need to grow and succeed.”
As part of this expansion, U.S. Bank has added more than 50 customer-facing positions nationwide in its business banking division since the beginning of the year, with more hiring expected. The division now includes more than 1,300 bankers providing clients with deposit, lending, payments and treasury management solutions.
In addition to hiring business banking relationship managers (BBRMs) who offer a wide range of services to businesses, U.S. Bank has added business development officers who provide Small Business Administration (SBA) loans and continues to grow its healthcare business banking team, which was launched in 2023 to serve medical, dental and veterinary practices in all 50 states.
A closer look at the expansion
Florida
Ehren McGeehan is the business banking sales manager leading the bank’s expansion in Florida. With more than 25 years of banking experience, he is hiring throughout the state, with positions already filled in Tampa and West Palm Beach. The business banking expansion in the state complements a growing wealth management, mortgage, and commercial and corporate banking presence in Florida. The Tampa hires will be based in a new wealth management office opening this fall.
Georgia
Averyl Belyea is the new business banking sales manager leading the U.S. Bank team serving the greater Atlanta market and surrounding counties, bringing more than 10 years of experience to the role. Atlanta is already home to a significant U.S. Bank presence, including the headquarters of its Elavon merchant services business. The bank also has been growing its wealth management, mortgage, and commercial and corporate banking operations in the market.
Texas
Laura Chapa, who has more than 20 years of banking experience, has been named the bank’s second business banking sales manager in Dallas, where she has hired additional bankers. U.S. Bank has maintained a business banking team in Dallas since 2022 and expanded to Houston last year. U.S. Bank also has small business (the division that serves businesses with annual sales between $500,000 and $2.5 million); wealth management; and corporate and commercial banking operations in Dallas.
Arizona
Stacey Worsley, who has more than 15 years of banking experience, is the bank’s third business banking sales manager in Phoenix, where she has hired an additional team of bankers. The bank continues to build out its presence in the market, expanding to more than 50 branch locations across the Phoenix area. The bank also has wealth management, mortgage, and commercial and corporate banking operations in the region.
The 2026 expansion follows business banking growth last year in Charlotte, Chicago, Houston, and Las Vegas, underscoring the bank’s commitment to serving businesses in high-growth markets across the country. U.S. Bank offers a wide range of products and services to support businesses, including deposit, loans, credit cards, and payments solutions, combining high-touch personal support from locally based bankers with award-winning digital tools. The bank is among the top SBA lenders in the country.
To learn more about business banking at U.S. Bank, visit https://www.usbank.com/business-banking.html.
About U.S. Bank
Headquartered in Minneapolis, U.S. Bancorp is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United States. Our three major business lines serve 15 million clients globally, and our team of nearly 70,000 people invest our hearts and minds to power human potential every day. Ranked 110th on the Fortune 500, we are deeply respected for our culture and long-term stewardship and admired for our diversified business mix and product capabilities.
Deposit products are offered by U.S. Bank National Association. Member FDIC. Credit products are offered by U.S. Bank National Association and are subject to normal credit approval. Equal Housing Lender.
Dee O'Dell is the head of business banking sales at U.S. Bank.
Recent efforts to throttle Ukraine’s access to satellite systems have created a blame game of sorts among Trump administration officials and their allies, who have offered mixed messages about what led to the sudden restrictions on Kyiv's ability to intercept Russian strikes.
The limitations placed on Starshield — SpaceX’s military-grade version of the Starlink satellite internet service and the backbone of Ukraine’s drone operations and communication — last week alarmed the country's military and government officials, with commanders reporting lost drones and disrupted missions. After days of handwringing, President Donald Trump asserted Thursday that the service is running again at full speed.
However, restrictions were still in place on Friday, according to Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“We have not seen any indication that Starlink’s restrictions have been lifted," he said in a post on social media. "There are isolated cases where Starlink can operate at speeds slightly above the limit, but these are likely due to SpaceX’s algorithm or specific operating conditions, rather than the restriction being lifted.”
A senior European official familiar with the situation on the ground in Ukraine said Thursday that the speed cap was still set at about 100 mph (160 kph). Ukraine has not received a clear official explanation of who ordered the restrictions or why, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The episode and subsequent lack of accountability have sent shock waves through Russia hawks and Ukraine's allies on Capitol Hill. Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal announced a new inquiry into how the technologies were slowed down for Ukraine’s defense systems.
Questions have percolated since last week about who ordered the interruptions to the Elon Musk-made satellite internet system that Ukraine has relied on for years to counter Moscow's attacks.
Trump, as recently as Thursday, has maintained that he didn’t make the call. Vice President JD Vance has hinted at White House coordination with Musk, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have denied any administration involvement.
Musk — one of the GOP's biggest donors and a Trump ally — indicated that because Ukraine was using the military-grade version of his technology, questions about the service should be directed to the Pentagon.
Here are the players in their own words:
Over the last week, Trump has repeatedly told reporters that he didn’t order restrictions on a satellite communications system used by Ukraine’s military, causing its drones to lose speed.
The president also earlier doubted the disruption came from Musk, formerly a close adviser and frequent companion.
“Well, I don’t know if it was anybody, but it wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon,” Trump said Friday. “And from what I understand, it’s the same as it’s always been.”
On Thursday, Trump appeared to confirm that the service had been down and claimed that it was once again working at optimal speeds. The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk had agreed to lift restrictions, and Trump demurred when asked if he had requested to lift the cap.
“You know, whether I called or whether somebody else called, doesn’t make any difference,” Trump told reporters. “I guess the bottom line, he put it back.”
In Cincinnati on Thursday, Vance was asked about Musk’s involvement in the slowdown of Starlink and Starshield in Ukraine and whether it warranted an investigation.
“I think that fundamentally, Elon Musk runs a private corporation,” Vance told reporters. “And I think it’s completely understandable that he doesn’t want to get in the middle of what is a war between two state actors without the United States government effectively directing him on what to do.”
Vance continued: “So I don’t think this is about Elon. I think it’s fundamentally what is America’s policy in Ukraine and Russia going to be.”
Rubio has insisted that the Trump administration and the U.S. government more broadly had nothing to do with interruptions to Ukraine’s access to crucial satellite data.
Speaking to reporters in India on Wednesday, Rubio said for the third time in four days that any throttling of network access to Ukraine was not directed or ordered by Trump or anyone else in his administration. He suggested, though, that the owner of the system — Musk — may have been involved.
“What I can tell you with certainty is the president of the United States nor anyone in our system ever requested that any changes to that system be made, and that’s what we said repeatedly,” Rubio said. “The president has nothing to do with the decisions that are made by Starlink and Starshield and by Mr. Musk. That’s a private company. The president doesn’t run that company and can’t direct that company to do anything.”
Hegseth has echoed Rubio's comments, denying on Tuesday any American role in slowing down the satellite internet service while also pushing the responsibility to Musk's company.
“We haven’t pulled anything back,” Hegseth told reporters, before adding that “there are terms of service that ultimately need to be complied to.”
He offered no elaboration on what terms of service Ukraine needed to comply with but said that “Starlink has the option to make those decisions.”
Musk, the world's richest man and leader of the company behind Starlink and Starshield, last week put the onus on the Trump administration.
“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” he wrote Oct. 14 on X.
“Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX. Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company,” Musk added.
The wartime president has been working to reverse the restrictions imposed without warning last week.
Shortly after the systems failed to work, Zelenskyy said that there were no similar restrictions in European Union countries and that they apply only to Ukraine. “In other words, this is a planned operation,” he said.
Zelenskyy spoke to a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers Monday, saying in a video of the briefing posted to social media that “we still face speed restrictions on Starlink and Starshield services in different parts of the front, and we still have no explanation for this. Just different strange stories.”
In an interview Wednesday on “Fox & Friends," Zelenskyy said that Starlink connectivity is still limited in Ukraine and that he was told by Rubio he would work to “unblock” the slowdown.
Amiri reported from New York and Arhirova from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani, Seung Min Kim, Konstantin Toropin, Matthew Lee and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives to speak with members of the media at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (Kylie Cooper/Pool Photo via AP)
President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the T. Ed Garrison Arena, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Pendleton, S.C. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy answers media questions before his meeting with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday Oct. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
