WILMINGTON, Ohio, April 22, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - Peoples Bank National Association ("Peoples Bank" or "Peoples") announced the formation of a new commercial banking team dedicated to the development of southern Montgomery, Warren, and Clermont counties in southwest Ohio.
"The formation of this team is consistent with our growth strategy," said Chuck Sulerzyski, Peoples Bank President and Chief Executive Officer. "When the acquisition of The National Bank & Trust Company ("NB&T") was announced, we indicated that the NB&T franchise represented one of the few, true community banks with scale remaining in southwest Ohio. It provided both critical mass and a well-positioned retail branch distribution system that provides Peoples' a platform for growth. Our goal is to become a more prominent factor in the southwest Ohio banking sector."
The new team Peoples' is assembling consists of veteran commercial banking professionals, each with more than 15 years of banking experience, who have spent the entirety of their banking careers in the southwest Ohio market.
Peoples Bank Regional President Ed Reilly, himself a 25 year veteran of banking in southwest Ohio, said, "We are excited to welcome three commercial relationship managers, including Richard Vaughan who will serve as senior vice president and team leader, located in Clermont County. In addition, Melanie McCoy and Darin Witherbotham, both of whom most recently served in business banking at Key Bank, will join the team."
This new team will be located at Peoples' Springboro, Ohio office and will primarily be focused on southern Montgomery and Warren counties.
According to Sulerzyski, "Ed Reilly is in the process of rounding out the team with the recruitment of two additional commercial banking relationship managers that will be oriented more towards southern Warren and Clermont counties and the 'beltway markets' ringing suburban Cincinnati. These bankers will be centered in one of Peoples Bank's existing offices in the Cincinnati suburbs."
In addition to the five relationship managers, the team will include a treasury management sales professional, a commercial loan assistant, and a commercial credit underwriter, all of whom are in the process of being recruited by Reilly. The team is expected to be fully staffed by June 30, 2015 but will be operational by the end of April with the addition of Vaughan, McCoy, and Winterbotham.
According to Sulerzyski, "This investment represents a testament to our growth strategy, is a strong indication of our intent to 'play offense' in the southwest Ohio commercial banking market, and represents an efficient way to more fully leverage the $100 million investment Peoples made in its acquisition of NB&T."
Peoples is a diversified financial services holding company with $3.2 billion in total assets, 81 sales offices and 80 ATMs in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. Peoples makes available a complete line of banking, investment, insurance and trust solutions through its subsidiaries - Peoples Bank and Peoples Insurance Agency, LLC. Peoples' common shares are traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market® under the symbol "PEBO", and Peoples is a member of the Russell 3000 index of US publicly-traded companies. Learn more about Peoples at http://www.peoplesbancorp.com.
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