Beach Cities Commercial Bank appointed Stephanie Bitters as senior vice president, specialty lending manager, effective March 2, 2026.
“Stephanie brings deep expertise in SBA and government lending, and we are thrilled to welcome her to our lending team,” Matt Blackmer, executive vice president, chief credit officer of Beach Cities Commercial Bank, said.
Bitters most recently served as executive vice president and chief credit officer at VelocitySBA, where she directed the company’s SBA lending operations and provided strategic oversight of loan support, credit analysis and servicing. She also served as SBA audit project manager with Williams Adley, working directly with the SBA’s Office of Credit Risk Management.
She previously served as executive vice president and director of SBA lending at Umpqua Bank, where she led operational and credit functions for the bank’s $1 billion SBA portfolio.
In her new role, Bitters will lead the bank’s specialty lending initiatives and support the continued growth of Beach Cities Commercial Bank’s SBA lending platform.
Bitters is a veteran banking executive with more than 40 years of experience in SBA lending, credit administration and financial operations. Her expertise spans the full SBA lending lifecycle, including loan origination, underwriting, closing, servicing, credit risk management and regulatory compliance.
