Mary Karakos

Lakeland Bank Announces Appointments

Thomas J. Shara, president and CEO of Lakeland Bank, announced the following promotions and new hire officer appointments.

Mary Karakos was appointed to the newly created position of Commercial Loan Chief Administrative Officer based in Oak Ridge. She joined the Bank in 1992 as a Commercial Loan Workout Officer based in Branchville and in 1996 was promoted to Vice President, Commercial Loan Officer based in Sussex County. In 2004 she was promoted to Vice President, Team Leader, Sussex County Lending Team and in 2007 was promoted to Senior Vice President, Team Leader. Karakos is a former board member for the Sussex County Economic Development Partnership and the Sussex County Community College Foundation. She is a resident of Fredon.

Jeffrey Wichman was promoted to Senior Vice President, Credit Manager based in Oak Ridge. He joined Lakeland in 2013 as Vice President, Commercial Real Estate Loan Officer for the Bernardsville Commercial Lending Team. Before joining the Bank, Wichman was with Heritage Community Bank in Randolph as First Vice President Commercial Lending, and prior to that, was Chief Operating Officer at Saddle River Valley Bank. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Wittenberg University and holds an MBA in finance from Miami University. Wichman is a resident of Rockaway Township.

Neill Schreyer has been appointed to Senior Vice President, Asset Recovery Manager in the Credit department based in Oak Ridge. Schreyer was most recently with Sussex Bank in Rockaway, New Jersey, as the Executive Vice President, Chief Credit Officer. Prior to that, he was with Noble Community Bank/Highlands State Bank in Sparta as the Senior Vice President, Chief Lending Officer. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Rutgers University and has a master’s degree in finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University, Metropolitan Campus. Schreyer is a resident of Wantage.

Susan Smith has been appointed to Senior Vice President, Credit Administration Manager in the Credit department based in Oak Ridge. Smith was previously Vice President, Credit Advisor at HSBC Private Bank in New York City and prior to that was Vice President, Credit Administration Officer with Peapack-Gladstone Bank in Peapack. She has a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University and a master’s degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Smith is a resident of Randolph.

Sharon Fagan has been appointed to Assistant Vice President, Commercial Portfolio Manager based at the Hudson Valley Loan Production Office in Highland Mills, New York. Fagan was previously with Sterling National Bank (formerly Provident Bank) for nearly 17 years. She was based in Montebello and Middletown, New York and was most recently Assistant Vice President, Commercial Portfolio Manager. Fagan resides in the Town of Montgomery, New York.

Mary Ann Popek has been appointed to Assistant Treasurer, Branch Operations Manager at the Waldwick Office. Popek was previously with Catskill Hudson Bank in Kingston, New York as a Branch Administrator and prior to that she was with TD Bank (formerly Hudson United Bank) in Mahwah, as a Project Manager. She is a resident of Middletown, New York.

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