Our Founders
Founders Bank is honored to have an impressive group of business and community leaders involved in its creation.
OJ Armstrong is a Managing Partner of The Crossmark Group Ltd., located in Sugar Land. The company provides construction management, design-build commercial construction and land development activities.
Throughout his career, OJ has owned and managed several service-related businesses operating in regulated market segments. He led a group for Allwaste to privatize utility infrastructure for large refineries and chemical manufacturing facilities with public and private financing structures. He has also been involved in mergers and acquisitions for publicly traded companies.
OJ is a long-time resident of Fort Bend County and a former member of the Board of Directors of First Community Bank, where he served on the Loan and Audit Committees.
He is a graduate of Texas Tech University and he earned his MBA from Houston Baptist University.
Stephen Benedettini is President and co-founder of Benedettini Cabinetry located in Rosenberg. Benedettini Cabinetry is a rapidly growing custom cabinet company that primarily services custom and semi-custom new home builders in the Houston metro area with annual sales exceeding $20 million. Prior to founding the company in 1999, Stephen operated a highly successful residential home carpentry company for more than 18 years.
Stephen is a 20-year resident of Fort Bend County and is very active in various local charitable organizations.
Dr. Rajesh Bindal serves as an Advisory Director to Founders Bank. He is a neurological surgeon in private practice in Sugar Land as well as a clinical assistant professor of neurosurgery at Baylor College of Medicine.
Rajesh is a member of the medical staffs at The Methodist Hospital and St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, both in Houston. He is a graduate of Northwestern University in Chicago, and he earned his medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School.
He has written extensively on advances in neurosurgical practices, especially in relation to brain tumors.
Rajesh is a resident of Sugar Land.
Dr. Juliet Breeze is the President of Partners in Practice Inc. a healthcare development and management company that she founded.
In her role, she project-manages all aspects of design, construction and operations for hospitals, surgical centers and physician practice start-ups.
Juliet graduated from Northwestern University and earned her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine. She completed residency training in Family Practice at Memorial Hermann Southwest, and previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Richmond Bone and Joint Clinic and President of Kingsland Surgery Center.
Billy Brown is founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Blueline Manufacturing with operations in Lafayette, La., and Houston.
Blueline is an oilfield service manufacturing company with more than 100 employees. Blueline’s clients include many of the leaders in the oilfield service industry, including Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and BJ Services.
Prior to starting Blueline, Billy created oilfield service firm SPS, which he eventually sold to 3iii, a Scottish investment banking firm. He is also active in several real estate ventures in Louisiana and Houston.
Billy is a long-time resident of Sugar Land and he and his wife are very active in civic and charitable organizations. He is a graduate of Nicholls State University.
Rodney Craig founded Summus Industries in 1997, a diversified company offering a variety of enterprise supply chain management solutions to customers through four primary operating divisions, Medical Distribution, Office Supplies, Food Distribution and Logistics.
Summus allows customers to achieve their supplier diversity initiatives and maintains contractual relationships with major healthcare institutions, universities, state and local government and corporations. Rodney is a resident of Sugar Land and is very active in political, civic and charitable endeavors throughout Fort Bend County.
Kolbe Curtice is founder of Curtice Commercial Real Estate, a full-service commercial brokerage company that specializes in office and retail tenant representation and brokerage.
He previously worked for Weingarten Realty Investors, a NYSE real estate investment trust, where he was responsible for handling leasing and asset management efforts for shopping centers in Houston, Corpus Christi, San Antonio and Austin.
Kolbe is a long-time resident of Fort Bend County and is active in civic and charitable organizations as both a volunteer and board member. Most recently, he served as an Advisory Director at First Community Bank.
He is a graduate of the University of Houston.
Kenneth W. Enders is Founder, President and Owner of Mercedes-Benz of Sugar Land, a retail automotive dealership.
From 1985 until the founding of the Sugar Land dealership in 2003, he was employed by Mercedes-Benz USA where he held a number of key management positions rising to Vice President of Marketing. Ken’s responsibilities at Mercedes-Benz USA involved franchise development, logistics, product development and serving on the National Mercedes-Benz Dealer Board since 1995.
Ken is a resident of Fort Bend County and he and the dealership are active supporters of civic and charitable organizations in the market.
Dr. Kim S. Gee has been practicing Orthodontics for over 28 years. He has office locations in Sugar Land and Houston. He was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year 2007 by the Houston Asian Chamber of Commerce and was recognized by Texas Monthly magazine as a “Super Dentist” in 2005. He has been a Board Member of the First Colony Management District for five years.
Kim and his wife Betty have lived and worked in Fort Bend County for more than 20 years. They are active supporters of many Fort Bend charitable organizations.
Gary Groves is the owner of National Coupling Company, Inc., an oil and gas manufacturing company located in Stafford. Gary grew up in the Missouri City and Sugar Land areas and he has spent more than 20 years working in a variety of key management positions at National Coupling Company, including Purchasing Manager, Sales Manager, Officer Manager and CFO before being elected to his current position as Chairman.
Miles D. Harper III is a Partner in the firm of Gainer, Donnelly & Desroches CPA, where he is responsible for preparation and review of financial statements, analysis of management strategies, individual, business and estate tax planning and valuation and litigation support.
Prior to joining Gainer, Donnelly & Desroches, Miles worked for the public accounting firm of Price Waterhouse and was managing partner of a local Houston firm for eight years. He serves as Chairman of Bridgeway Mutual Funds and as a Director of Calvert Mutual Funds and the Depelchin Children’s Center in Houston.
William O. Jameson is President of WJ Interests, a Sugar Land-based fee only financial advisor and asset manager providing services to individuals, families and businesses. Bill is a Certified Financial Planner and a Registered Investment Advisor with more than 30 years management experience in leading successful business enterprises.
A 25-year resident of Fort Bend County, Bill served as President of the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Fort Bend Economic Development Council, Director of the Fort Bend Toll Road Authority, former President of a successful Houston-based consulting engineering firm and is currently a Trustee of the George Foundation.
Lenin Juarez is the President and major shareholder of Action Gypsum Supply, a Houston-based distributor of building materials which he co-founded four years ago. Prior to starting Action Gypsum, he worked for Builders Gypsum Supply, the largest distributor of wall board and related products in Texas.
During Lenin’s 20-year tenure at Builders, he held numerous positions including General Manager.
Shirley Knesek-Enloe is Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer of Founders Bank, in addition to serving on the Board of Directors.
Shirley has more than 30 years of experience in accounting and bank operations and more than 20 years of experience in interest risk analysis, budgeting and strategic planning. She was responsible for the financials and operations of two de novo banks in the past six years. Her most recent bank grew to four locations and $175 million in assets over a three-year period.
Calvin T. Ladner is President of LJA Engineering & Surveying, Inc. a full-service, employee-owned and operated consulting engineering firm. The staff of LJA includes more than 300 experienced civil and transportation engineers, hydrologists, land planners, landscape architects, construction managers, designers, technicians and surveyors.
David Moore is the owner and President of Westport Homes, located in Stafford. Westport focuses on residential development in Houston’s finest master-planned communities, building more than 100 homes annually.
Westport has been recognized as Houston’s builder of the year four times, and has been recognized by the Texas Institute of Designers numerous times for its architecture.
David and his wife are long-time Fort Bend residents and are very active in charitable organizations throughout the county.
Jamil Musa owns Brookstreet Barbeque with locations in Sugar Land and Missouri City. Jamil is active in commercial real estate development in Fort Bend County and other family members own and manage local food service businesses. He and his family are long-time residents of Fort Bend County and he is active in civic, political and charitable activities.
Pat O’Connell is the owner of O’Connell Realty Advisors. His company owns and manages office and industrial building in the Houston area. The company also provides property management for commercial properties in the Houston region as well as conducting limited construction and commercial development projects. Pat and his family are long-time residents of Sugar Land and he is active in political and industry activities.
Jim Sturgeon is Chief Executive Officer, President and Chief Lending Officer of Founders Bank. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors.
With more than 30 years of experience in the banking industry, Jim has managed both community and chain banks. His in-depth knowledge of the Fort Bend market – gained over a multi-year period where he led the growth and development of two local banks – was a driving force in the creation of Founders Bank.
Jim is a long-time resident of Sugar Land and he and his wife are active in the community, serving as members on various boards of non-profit groups that assist abused children and low-income families. He is also active in a number of civic organizations that contribute to the growth and quality of life in Fort Bend County.
A graduate of the University of Houston he also earned an MBA from Southern Methodist University.
Dr. John Vanderzyl serves as an Advisory Director to Founders Bank. He is a practicing physician and partner in Sugar Lakes Family Practice in Sugar Land, and was recently named one of the “Top Doctors in America” in a national survey of physicians.
John is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the Texas Medical Association, where he most recently served on the Council of Socioeconomics. He is also active in a number of Fort Bend charitable causes.
John is a native Houstonian who received his undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University. He earned his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. He is a Sugar Land resident and a member of the Board of Directors of St. Luke’s Hospital Sugar Land.
Rickey Williams serves as non-executive Chairman of the Board. He is President of HomeVestors-WFI Properties, Inc. located in Houston, which he founded in 2004.
Prior to starting his current company, Rickey was President and co-owner of Alpha Circuits Inc., a contract electronics manufacturer in Stafford. He sold part of his interest in the company in 2004 and remains on the Board of Directors.
From 1990 to 1996, Rickey was President of United Financial Resources, a firm that packaged and originated SBA loans. Over the past 15 years, he has served as an Advisory Director of Texas State Bank in Sugar Land and Business Development Board Member of Wells Fargo Bank, First Bank in Houston and Sunbelt National Bank-Houston.
Most recently, he was a Director of First Community Bank and served on the Loan and ALCO Committees. Rickey and his wife are long-time residents of Sugar Land and are very active in community, school and charitable organizations.