Associated Bank, a Green Bay-based bank that has been on a hiring spurt in the Chicago area and seeks to crack the Top 10 in deposit market share here in the next five years, on Thursday announced seven personnel appointments in its retail division, including a new retail director for Illinois and a senior residential sales manager for Chicago.

The announcement of the seven, a couple of whom previously worked at Amcore Bank, comes on the heels of six new hires in the Chicago-area commercial banking team.

The $23 billion-asset bank, which recently announced its second-straight profitable quarter, said it has appointed former Amcore retail chief Tom Szmanda as retail director for Illinois and John Horton as senior residential sales manager for Chicago.

It has also made five additional appointments at branches throughout the Chicago area

Szmanda, 51, was appointed retail director for Associated’s south region, overseeing all of the bank’s branches in the Chicago area, Peoria, Southern Illinois and the St. Louis area.

Previously, Szmanda was the executive vice president and chief retail officer for Amcore, which was based in Rockford and failed last year under the weight of bad loans. He also had worked for Citizens Bank, Key Bank, Charter One and Bank One. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s in finance and accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

“Tom’s experience managing large branch networks will strengthen Associated Bank’s commitment to connecting with the local communities we serve and providing high quality, efficient customer service,” said David Stein, retail banking director for Associated.

Horton, 44, was previously senior vice president of residential mortgage at Standard Bank & Trust Co. He’s also a firefighter with the Clarendon Hills Fire Department.

Associated Bank also recently named new branch managers in Aurora, Libertyville, Elgin and Lindenhurst.

Also, Daniel Fraser, 51, was named a business development officer at Associated Bank’s Glenview location. He was previously assistant vice president and commercial relationship manger at Amcore.

Associated currently has 27 Chicago-area branches and more than 275 area workers.

Companywide, it has 290 banking offices serving 160 communities in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois.

byerak@tribune.com