SouthState Bank executed several leadership changes, including promoting Chris Kamienski to head of consumer and small business banking, Jordan Hallam to director of government guaranteed lending and Mark C. Smith to director of the premier private client group.
“We’re excited to promote these emerging leaders. Retention and leadership development allow us to continue building our framework of stability and success,” Richard Murray, president of SouthState Bank, said.
Kamienski has been with SouthState since 2016, most recently serving as the north Florida president and overseeing the First Coast and East Central divisions of Florida. He previously worked as market president for Ameris Bank for three years and chief lending officer during his 10 years at Prosperity Bank.
Hallam was promoted to director of government guaranteed lending following the retirement of Mark Bryant. Bryant will retire in October with 33 years of banking experience, including seven with SouthState.
Hallam has been with SouthState for more than 11 years and most recently served as a senior vice president and sales manager for SouthState’s government guaranteed lending division. He has 16 years of commercial lending experience, specializing in SBA lending, business banking and investment real estate.
In his new role, Smith will lead the premier private client group segment strategy and banking channel for high-net worth clients. Smith has been a member of SouthState’s high-net worth leadership team since he joined the bank in 2022 as the premier private banking team leader for Alabama. Prior to joining SouthState, Smith served as executive vice president and director of private wealth management at Hancock Whitney. He also held leadership positions in retail banking, business banking and credit administration at Regions Financial and served as executive vice president and global wealth executive for BBVA.
In addition to these line of business leaders, SouthState hired:
- Haiman Albana as a commercial relationship manager in Jacksonville, FL. Albana spent most of his career with Wells Fargo in various credit and business banking roles before moving to CitiBank’s credit department.
- Brian Geppi as a middle-market banker in Greenville, SC. Geppi has an 18-year banking career featuring investment banking, corporate treasury and middle-market client coverage experience in multiple specialized industries across South Carolina. He was most recently part of J.P. Morgan’s middle-market group.
- Michael Glenn as a commercial relationship manager in Columbia, SC. Glenn joined SouthState with more than 15 years in the banking industry spread across multiple segments, including retail/consumer banking, commercial credit management, treasury management and commercial lending. He joined SouthState from United Community Bank, where he served as a commercial relationship manager.
- Mike Glover as a senior governmental relationship manager in Tampa, FL. Glover joined SouthState from RBC Capital Markets, where he specialized in investment banking solutions for education-based clients. His 27-year banking career includes equity research and sales experience, as well as experience in public finance supporting municipal, institutional, education and not-for-profit entities across the eastern United States with a concentration in the Southeast.
- Octavio Hernandez as a commercial relationship manager in Miami-Dade County, FL. Hernandez is a Miami banking industry veteran with 35 years of experience across commercial, retail, C&I and investment segments. He joined SouthState from Valley National Bank, where he served as a commercial real estate relationship manager.
- Mark Irby as a commercial relationship manager in Polk County, FL. Irby has spent most of his 25-year banking career with Bank of America as a commercial relationship manager. He previously worked at Chase Bank and had two stints with community banks where he has served as a commercial relationship manager, a business banker and in various credit functions.
- Alvaro Jiron as a financial consultant in Coral Gables, FL. Jiron has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining the SouthState Investment Services team, he worked at financial institutions including Merrill Lynch, Charles Schwab and JPMorgan Chase. He has his FINRA Series 7 and 66 securities registration held with LPL Financial and his Florida Life, Health and Variable Annuities licenses.
- Randy Moyer as a commercial relationship manager in Sarasota, FL. Moyer is a business and commercial banker with nearly two decades of banking experience. He has led retail banking teams and spent most of his career as a commercial and 7A lender for Huntington Bank in Ohio before relocating to Florida to work for ServisFirst as a core commercial banker.
- Andrea Parkinson as a premier private banker in Richmond, VA. Parkinson has served in the financial services industry in Richmond, VA, for more than 15 years. She has experience in consumer, commercial and residential lending.
- Jenn Poppen as a commercial relationship manager in Sarasota, FL. Poppen joined SouthState from Fifth Third Bank, where she worked for the past several years as a business banker.
- Jeffrey Spencer as a financial consultant in Winter Haven, FL. Spencer is a financial consultant with 24 years of experience in strategic advice and guidance on investments, insurance, retirement planning and tax-wise investing. He has Series 7, 26, 63 and 65 securities licenses held at LPL Financial and a State of Florida Life, Health and Variable Annuity license and is a Chartered Mutual Fund Counselor (CMFC).
- Abe Swartz as a middle-market banker in Greenville, SC. Swartz has 25 years of experience in commercial and corporate banking, loan syndications and working capital finance. He rejoined SouthState from Alliance Partners, where he covered member bank activities involving loan syndications and specialty finance.
- Jody Thomasson as a business banker in Wilmington, NC. Thomasson has more than 25 years of banking and sales experience, spending the last several years working with commercial, wealth and retail/small business clients at Truist.
- Chad Todd as a commercial relationship manager in Jacksonville, FL. Todd joined SouthState from Ameris and Truist, where he held the role of commercial banking relationship manager.
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