Greater Buffalo Savings Bank

Greater Buffalo Savings Bank Announces the Expansion and ...

BUFFALO, N.Y., March 15, 2007 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Andrew W. Dorn Jr., President of Greater Buffalo Savings Bank (GBSB) announced the hiring of Peter B. Babiarz as Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer and the restructuring of the Bank's lending functions to enhance and expand customer service.

Babiarz joins GBSB after 22 years at HSBC Bank USA, serving most recently as Senior Vice President -- Senior Credit Administrator. In that position, he was responsible for regulating credit policy and approving credit decisions within major businesses and regional areas of the bank. With over 30 years of experience in retail banking and commercial and real estate lending, Babiarz will be a valuable addition to an organization undergoing significant growth in the commercial lending arena. With his arrival, GBSB is revising its organizational structure to formally separate credit review functions from the lending businesses to ensure the strength and autonomy of credit decisioning as the Bank continues to grow. Babiarz is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo where he received his B.S. in Management and M.B.A. in Finance.

Dorn also reported that Robert McKnight was recently promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer. McKnight joined GBSB in January 2005 as Senior Vice President responsible for commercial and industrial lending. His previous commercial banking career spanned 34 years at HSBC. In his new role, McKnight will oversee all of the lending businesses including the commercial and industrial division, the commercial real estate division, and a newly-formed community banking division. He is a graduate of Canisius College where he received his B.S. in Management and MBA in Finance.

Ted Oexle was recently promoted to Senior Vice President replacing McKnight as the head of the commercial and industrial lending division. He joined GBSB in 2005, bringing 15 years of business lending experience to the organization. Oexle earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics from Buffalo State College.

GBSB's newly-formed community banking division is comprised of small business lending, consumer lending and merchant banking activities. "Our new structure will allow the Bank to better serve the needs of the business community and our retail banking customers.We now have an experienced team and lending capacity to effectively serve our branch network and expanding businesses throughout Erie County, Niagara, Chautauqua, "Dorn said.

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