Oak Ridge, N.J. – Feb. 6, 2018 – Thomas J. Shara, President and CEO of Lakeland Bank, is pleased to announce the following appointments.
John F. Rath, III has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer. Rath joined Lakeland in March 2015 as Senior Vice President, Group Leader, Hudson Valley Loan Production Office and Middle Market Commercial and Industrial Lending and was promoted in 2016 to First Senior Vice President, Group Manager New York Commercial and Middle Market Lending based in Highland Mills, N.Y. 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 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.
Stephen C. Novak, has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Senior Commercial Real Estate Officer and Group Leader. Novak joined Lakeland in 2001 as Vice President, Team Leader of the Wyckoff Commercial Lending Group, and was promoted to Senior Vice President, Team Leader in 2007. In 2014, he was promoted to First Senior Vice President, Division Head, Commercial Real Estate Group. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance/economics and a master’s in finance from Montclair State University. Novak serves as a trustee for Allendale Housing Inc., a not-for-profit organization active in the development of housing for low to moderate developmentally disabled individuals. He also serves on the CIANJ Real Estate Committee and is an active member with NAIOP New Jersey. Novak resides in Allendale, N.J.
About Lakeland Bank
Lakeland Bank is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Lakeland Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:LBAI), which has $5.4 billion in total assets. The Bank operates 53 branch offices throughout Bergen, Essex, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, and Union counties in New Jersey including one branch in Highland Mills, New York; six New Jersey regional commercial lending centers in Bernardsville, Jackson, Montville, Newton, Teaneck and Waldwick; and one in New York to serve the Hudson Valley region. Lakeland also has a commercial loan production office serving Middlesex and Monmouth counties in New Jersey. Lakeland Bank offers an extensive suite of financial products and services for businesses and consumers. Visit LakelandBank.com for more information.
