Signature Financial, LLC, the specialty finance subsidiary of New York-based Signature Bank announced the appointment of seven seasoned sales professionals throughout the country. These sales executives bring decades of experience to Signature Financial, primarily in the areas of equipment and transportation leasing and finance. 

Harry Newman was named Executive Sales Officer, and is based in the Knoxville, Tenn. area. He brings 30 years of financing expertise to Signature Financial. Prior, Newman was Vice President at Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, where he handled sourcing and negotiating a wide range of construction equipment transactions. Previously, he held various equipment finance-related positions at Citigroup and Astec Financial.

Craig T. Cleary was named Executive Sales Officer and is based in Harrisburg, Pa. Cleary has 20 years of experience in equipment financing, and most recently served as business development manager for De Lage Landen, a global provider of leasing, business and consumer finance solutions. Prior, he served as Vice President at both GE Capital and Citigroup. Cleary’s expertise extends into the construction and trucking industries.

Also appointed to the role of Executive Sales Officer is Bill Musgrave, who is based in the Denver, Colo. region. Musgrave has spent more than 30 years in the equipment finance arena, specializing in construction, bus finance and waste management. Before joining Signature Financial, he was a Vice President at Capital One Equipment Leasing & Finance for seven years. Musgrave previously worked in various finance positions at Zion’s Credit Corp., HSBC Business Credit and ITT Capital Financial.
 
Rob McKenna, based in Philadelphia, Pa., was named to the post of Executive Sales Officer, after garnering a 23-year career in specialty finance, with an emphasis in construction and transportation equipment. Most recently, McKenna was District Sales Manager at Paccar Financial Corp. in both Pa. and N.Y. Previously, he held Vice President of Sales roles at both GE Capital and CitiCapital.

Mark Riley was also appointed to the post of Executive Sales Officer and is based in Richmond, Va. Another 23-year financing veteran, Riley recently was a Commercial Loan Officer for People’s United Equipment Finance. An expert in construction and transportation financing, he also was a Senior Vice President and Regional Manager at CitiCapital and Senior Vice President and Sales Manager at GE Capital.

Joining the Signature Financial headquarters location in Melville, N.Y. is Executive Sales Officer Joseph D. Farinella, who brings 35 years of finance experience to his new position. Farinella, who specializes in construction equipment and transportation financing, previously served as a Vice President at Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, serving eastern New York and Connecticut. He spent 18 years at Wells Fargo and its predecessor, CIT Construction. Farinella also was Vice President at USI Capital and Leasing in New York City.
 
Rick Scheffel also joins Signature Financial’s headquarters in Melville as Executive Sales Officer. Scheffel’s direct origination efforts focus on serving commercial clients, not-for-profit entities and municipalities within Signature Bank’s metro-New York area footprint. Scheffel will also be supporting Signature Bank’s Private Client Groups by providing equipment leasing and finance solutions to enhance existing Bank relationships. Scheffel, with 16 years of lending experience, spent six years at TD Equipment Financial as New York Regional Manager focusing on business development. Previously, he spent 10 years as a senior sales executive at GE Capital in the Commercial Equipment Finance area.

“We are excited to further attract high-caliber sales professionals to Signature Financial from a wide variety of institutions. Since Signature Financial was introduced as part of Signature Bank just 16 months ago, we have steadily grown this specialty finance business unit, and the addition of these seven professionals helps to expand our nationwide capabilities,” noted Walter Rabin, President and Chief Executive Officer at Signature Financial.