Gulf Coast Business Credit (GCBC), the working capital finance division of Gulf Coast Bank & Trust, announced the hiring of Troy Zupancic, Robert James, Chrissy Sphar and the promotion of Celena DeFreitas to business development officer.

After two years as a credit analyst, DeFreitas has been promoted to sales with GCBC in Texas. Prior to joining GCBC, DeFreitas was formerly a senior associate for Pricewaterhouse Coopers. DeFreitas has a background in factoring as an analyst for GCBC in addition to experience from her work at Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. DeFreitas is a current member of the Association for Corporate Growth and looks forward to serving in Texas and New Mexico for GCBC.

“I was attracted to the position of business development officer due to the success I saw in our sales team while supporting this group as a credit analyst and am thrilled to be a part of the 2013 sales team,” said DeFreitas.

Sphar has been added to take over a sales administration and credit analysis role. Sphar comes to Gulf Coast with ten years of experience in education, leadership and professional development.

Zupancic joins GCBC as vice president, New Business Development in Texas. Zupancic is a native of Texas and has been providing banking solutions to small and middle-market companies in the DFW metroplex for 17 years with firms such as Wells Fargo, Comerica, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.

“I believe my experience in developing relationships that are based on mutual trust, and my determination to meet and exceed performance expectations will be a key asset for Gulf Coast,” said Zupancic.

James joins GCBC as vice president, New Business Development in the Colorado market. James was a senior account manager focused on business development with Yellow Book 360 prior to joining GCBC. At Yellow Book James was a four time Chairman’s Club Winner for outstanding sales production.

“DeFreitas, Sphar, Zupancic and James have been added to play vital roles in the development and growth of our division. I believe this group will thrive in their new positions and we are excited to add them to our team,” said Meg Roberson, national sales manager.