Midwest BankCentre’s Rising Analytics team grows with two additions

The Rising Analytics team, a subsidiary of Midwest BankCentre Inc., has expanded with two data science team members.

Jose Rodriguez has been named partner and principal data scientist for Rising Analytics. He also serves Midwest BankCentre as vice president of business intelligence. He reports to Kelvin Taylor, managing partner of Rising Analytics and executive vice president-chief information officer for Midwest BankCentre.

Peter Orphan, who joined Midwest BankCentre in 2013, has been named senior data analyst on the Rising Analytics team. He continues as a data analyst for the bank, which has a presence in both St. Louis and Metro East.

Rodriguez (shown right) previously directed the Margolis Market Information Lab in the Department of Finance at the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In his new role, he delivers the latest technologies and infrastructure to clients by analyzing their needs, preparing proposals, overseeing a team of principals, and selecting technology platforms and frameworks. For Midwest BankCentre, he leads the bank’s business intelligence strategy to harvest and analyze data for actionable insights. Rodriguez graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science and a master’s degree in computer science. He has completed post-graduate studies in machine learning and finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. His research has garnered several awards.

Orphan (shown left) will work with clients to identify performance metrics, analytics and automation workflows; design, build and maintain data warehousing components; and develop infrastructure reports. He is frequently involved in supporting the implementation of new systems. Orphan’s specialized skills include data modeling and visualization, metrics establishment and report production. A native of Greece, Orphan earned a five-year degree in chemical engineering at the National Technical University of Athens. He completed his master of business administration degree at the University of Missouri-Columbia and completed a six-month data analytics program at Washington University.

About Rising Analytics

Rising Analytics is designed to help small to mid-sized businesses harness the power of their data to drive business strategy, processes, efficiencies and profitability.

About Midwest BankCentre

Midwest BankCentre’s current assets exceed $2 billion and deposits total more than $1.5 billion. The bank employs a staff of about 280 working at 18 bank locations in the city of St. Louis, St. Louis, Jefferson and St. Charles counties in Missouri and St. Clair County in Illinois.