Bruce Lammers, executive vice president of Byline Bank and president of the Byline Small Business Capital (SBC) team, will retire on May 28, 2019, bringing an end to a long career in government guaranteed small lending in the private sector. Thomas Abraham, currently senior vice president, SBA Sales Manager of SBC, will succeed Lammers in leading the bank’s government guaranteed lending business.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to have worked with Bruce since our acquisition of Ridgestone Financial in 2016 and to have benefited from his leadership, vast experience and knowledge,” said Alberto Paracchini, Byline president and CEO. “Bruce’s passion for and commitment to helping small businesses grow will leave a mark on this Company and the industry as a whole.”
“Retirement for me is a bittersweet moment,” said Lammers. “I’ve had a rewarding career, and having the ability to work with inspiring entrepreneurs and business owners to help them build their dreams is something I will truly miss. I have been fortunate to work alongside respected colleagues with whom I share a common commitment to our customers and our mission.”
Lammers joined Byline Bank in September 2016 as part of its acquisition of Ridgestone Bank, where he had served as president and CEO since 2006. Lammers and his team were instrumental in building a business recognized consistently as a Top 10 SBA Lender nationally and achieved #1 SBA lender status in Illinois and Wisconsin annually. He has held positions on the board of NAGGL (National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders) and is an established leader throughout the SBA and USDA.
Abraham has 30 years of industry experience. He has worked closely with Lammers since the early days of Ridgestone in 2006 and was instrumental in building the government guaranteed lending framework for loan originations, credit processing and closing footprint as well as sales generation, back-end operations and portfolio servicing.
“I look forward to working with Tom and his team to continue to grow our government guaranteed lending business nationally,” said Paracchini. “His depth of knowledge, passion for small business lending, knowledge of internal processes and culture will serve our business well.”
Headquartered in Chicago, Byline Bank is, a full-service commercial bank serving small- and medium-sized businesses, financial sponsors, and consumers. It has approximately $5.3 billion in assets and operates more than 60 branch locations throughout the Chicago and Milwaukee metropolitan areas.
