By Becky Yerak
| Mark Sander, the former longtime LaSalle Bank commercial lender who in
September 2009 joined Associated Bank in Chicago, is putting together
some of his old team.

Associated, which is based in Green Bay but which earlier this year said
it wanted to boost its commercial banking ranks in Chicago by nearly 30
percent, has hired Peter Bulandr as a specialized financial services
market manager. He’ll be based in Chicago and will lead a group of
bankers that’ll serve the insurance industry.

He joins Associated from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, where he headed the insurance industry sector, and before that he was a senior vice president for Bank of America, which in October 2007 bought LaSalle Bank, which had been Chicago’s No. 2 bank in deposit market share. Bulandr spent 15 years at LaSalle.

Also, Christopher O’Brien has also been named specialized financial services market manager. He’ll also be based in Chicago and will manage a team focused on secondary education.

Before joining Associated, he was senior vice president of the middle market banking group at Bank of America. Before that, he served as senior vice president and division head in the specialized finance group at LaSalle Bank, where he managed a team responsible for relationships with private post secondary schools and universities.

Associated, which has $23 billion in assets, has created a national specialized financial services group to serve certain industries.

“The addition of these industry experts is an initial step in building our business in specialized industries where we believe we have the potential to grow,” Sander said in a statement. “They know these targeted niches well, including the major players and the dynamics of the industry.”

Also, Associated has hired Donna Smith as executive vice president and commercial banking director for the company’s south region, which serves commercial and industrial businesses in Chicago, Peoria, southern Illinois and the St. Louis area.

Most recently, Smith was a commercial banking market executive within the Midwest region of Bank of America.  Previously, Smith served as group senior vice president for LaSalle Bank, where she managed six middle market divisions.

Associated also has made hires from two other banks.

Robert Swanson has been named commercial banking regional manager for the south region.   Most recently, he served as senior vice president for Fifth Third Bank, where he focused on middle market companies in north and northwest Chicago.  He had previously worked at LaSalle.
 
Also, Rod Murray joins Associated as commercial banking middle market manager. He was previously with Chicago-based PrivateBank, which hired dozens of LaSalle lenders after the Bank of America takeover. Murray had also worked at LaSalle before joining PrivateBank.

“We look forward to their contributions as we continue to grow our commercial banking business,” Sander said.