Oak Ridge, N.J. – January 12, 2016 – Thomas J. Shara, President and CEO of Lakeland Bank, is pleased to announce the following promotions:
Ronald E. Schwarz has been promoted to Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer based in Oak Ridge, N.J. Schwarz joined Lakeland Bank in 2009 as Chief Retail Officer and has over 40 years of retail banking experience in Northern New Jersey. In this new role, Schwarz will oversee Retail Banking, Commercial Lending and Marketing. Prior to joining Lakeland, he was Executive Vice President and Market Executive of Retail Banking at Sovereign (now Santander) for their Northern New Jersey division. Prior to Sovereign, he was Senior Vice President and NJ Retail President for Independence Community Bank and also held positions with Broad National Bank, Urban National Bank, Midlantic National Bank and United Jersey Bank. Schwarz is a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking and is a board member and past Chairman for Hudson County Community College Foundation. He also serves as treasurer on the board of directors for the Metropolitan YMCA of the Oranges. Schwarz resides in North Haledon, N.J.
Ellen Lalwani has been promoted to First Senior Vice President, Chief Retail Officer based in Oak Ridge, N.J. Lalwani joined Lakeland Bank in August 2008 as Senior Vice President, Director, Retail Sales and has more than 20 years of retail banking experience. Before joining Lakeland, she was Vice President, Retail Sales Manager at TD Banknorth in Mahwah, N.J. Prior to that, she was Sales Manager for Key Bank in Parsippany, N.J. and Senior Vice President, Director, Direct Banking for Hudson United Bank in Mahwah, N.J. Lalwani earned a bachelor’s degree in finance with a minor in economics from St. John’s University. She is a member of the Society of Industry Leaders – Bank Technology, the St. John’s University Alumni Association and has taught religious education since 2001 at St. Luke’s Church in Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J.
John F. Rath, III has been promoted to First Senior Vice President, Group Manager New York Commercial and Middle Market Lending based in Highland Mills, N.Y. Rath joined Lakeland in March 2015 as Senior Vice President, Group Leader, Hudson Valley Loan Production Office and Middle Market Commercial & Industrial Lending. He was previously with TD Bank as Senior Vice President and Group Manager for Corporate, Middle Market, Commercial and Small Business lending in the Lower Hudson Valley region. Prior to that, he was with The Bank of New York. Rath is a Board member and past Chairman for Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress and serves on the boards of Hospice of Orange and Sullivan Counties, the SUNY Orange Foundation, and the Bardavon 1869 Opera House. He has been an Advisory Board member for the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley for 25 years and was Co-Chairman of their Capital Campaign. Rath resides in Newburgh, N.Y.
About Lakeland Bank
Lakeland Bank is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Lakeland Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:LBAI), which has $4.3 billion in total assets. The Bank operates 53 New Jersey branch offices in Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren counties; five New Jersey regional commercial lending centers in Bernardsville, Montville, Newton, Teaneck and Wyckoff/Waldwick; and two commercial loan production offices serving Middlesex and Monmouth counties in New Jersey and the Hudson Valley region of New York. Lakeland Bank offers an extensive suite of financial products and services for businesses and consumers. Visit LakelandBank.com for more information.