Mr. Thomas has over 28 years of investment and operating experience in the agriculture industry, with diverse experience ranging from direct agriculture management, to selling agricultural commercial banking portfolios, to investing in the industry as a venture capitalist.
Mr. Thomas currently owns and operates Caprock Inc., an agriculture-focused venture capital firm with $40 million in assets. He is also founder of Mission Bank, a state chartered bank formed in 1998, where he sits on the Board of Directors and chairs its loan committee. Under his tenure, Mission Bank has grown from $5 million to $60 million in assets.
Prior to founding Caprock and Mission Bank, Mr. Thomas founded Thomas Cattani Inc. in 1986, an agricultural asset management company formed to manage and sell Wells Fargo's $400 million agricultural real estate portfolio. Thomas Cattani was responsible for all management, farming, leasing, maintenance, and sales of the properties in this portfolio as well as their commodities. These properties stretched from Phoenix, Arizona, north to Redding, California, and east to Elko, Nevada. Thomas Cattani successfully liquidated this portfolio between 1986 and 1991.
Previously, Mr. Thomas spent 10 years owning and managing several different large-scale agricultural operations, including:
- 2,000 head grass ranch neat Fort Klamath, Oregon. Operations included 100,000 acres of leased land in California for winter grazing and a 1,500 head pre-conditioning feedlot in Oregon.
- 3,500 acre diversified agricultural company near Porterville, California. Operations included 1,500 acres of lemons and avocados, a 4,000 head cow-calf ranch, a 150 head purebred cow herd, and a 2,000 acre farm development near Wasco, California.
- 6,000 acre cotton, potato, and carrot farm in Kern County, California. Operations included a re-opened 6,000 head feedlot.
- 800 acre potato, grain, and alfalfa farm near Dorris, California. Operations included a potato packing house to deliver produce to urban terminal markets.