Roberto Herencia, the former chief executive of Midwest Banc Holdings Inc., has been nominated to serve on the board of directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corp., the Obama administration announced Wednesday.

The OPIC was established as an agency of the U.S. government in 1971. It helps U.S. businesses invest overseas. On its Web site, OPIC says it charges market-based fees for its products and services and therefore operates at no net cost to taxpayers.

Herencia now serves as an independent director of SKBHC, a bank holding company focused on acquisitions.

Between 2009 and 2010, Herencia was the CEO of Midwest Banc, whose Midwest Bank unit failed earlier this year. He had been recruited to replace the previous chief and was credited with making the struggling bank more attractive to potential buyers through cost cutting and other initiatives. About a half dozen banks bid to acquire the assets and deposits of Midwest when the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized it.

Previously, he spent 17 years with Popular Inc. as its pesident of Banco Popular North America.

He is a trustee of the Museum of Science and Industry, DePaul University, and Northwestern Memorial Foundation in Chicago, and serves on the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement of Chicago, Operation Hope in Los Angeles, the Economic Club of Chicago, and New America Alliance.

Herencia graduated magna cum laude and received his bachelor’s in finance from Georgetown University. He received his master’s in business administration from Northwestern University.

byerak@tribune.com