But, she added, "I think that people are just beginning to understand the value of the skills that women seem to bring. They certainly compete on an equal level with men intellectually, but I think they may also have some people-building skills that make them prime candidates for executive management."

Taylor's appointment is part of a larger restructuring at Key in Utah, targeted toward growth and transformation.

"The idea is that we can be closer to our clients and more involved with the community," Taylor said. "It used to be a line of business structure, where retail did its own thing and business banking did its own thing. Now, there's a lot of reasons internally for us to work together and help clients that way."

Looking ahead, Taylor listed her goals for Key — goals both ambitious and measured.

"My goal is to get some market optimization," Taylor said. "So we'd have our fair share — for the size of our bank, what should our market share be, because we can't all be number one. I know there's a lot of banks that say, 'We're going to have 400 branches here,' but I can tell you we probably won't. But we're going to continue to grow, and we want our fair share of the market."

That means wooing more of the bigger clients, but it also means drawing modest consumer accounts with snappy promotions like the recent "open an account, get an iPod" promotion. Mostly, though, it means analyzing the market and being where the customers are.

"When I look at growth, I look at where the population is, where there's a lot of churning and opportunities like that," Taylor said. "So, for example, the southwest quadrant of Salt Lake County would be an excellent place to be. The northern part of Utah County would be an excellent place to be."

The bank will open a new branch early next month in the Daybreak area in South Jordan.

"I want people to know that we're here to stay," Taylor said. "There's a lot of news and a lot of firsts going on with Key right now. It's an exciting time for us internally, but we're hoping that people outside the organization will want to be a part of it, too."

Jill M. Taylor

Title: Utah district president, KeyBank

Hometown: Salt Lake City

Education: Cottonwood High School; journalism degree from the University of Utah

Experience: 17 years in the banking industry — from teller to district manager — at Valley Bank, Bank One and KeyBank

Family: Husband, Jason, works as office manager of Neerings Plumbing and Heating. Three children, including two boys, ages 12 and five months, and one daughter, age 8

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E-mail: jnii@desnews.com