Peapack-Gladstone Financial Corporation and Peapack-Gladstone Bank announce enhancements to its equipment finance and leasing subsidiary, Peapack Capital. Dennis Smith has been named President of the division, while Richard Johnston has been named National Director of Sales. Together, they now lead a team of 16, operating out of Bedminster, NJ and Northborough, MA.

A 30-year plus veteran in the business, Smith of Hudson, NH, joined Peapack Capital in 2017, as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Peapack Capital. As President, Smith will focus on elevating divisional operations and capabilities. Prior to joining Peapack Capital, Smith managed front and mid-office operational functions including pricing, structuring, buy/sell syndication, proposal creation, profitability analysis, incentive compensation, closing functions, change management, and Infolease system upgrade projects for Sovereign Bank/Santander Bank, N.A., as Senior Vice President and Managing Director. He also served as Director of the group during an in-footprint product launch in 2012. Smith originally joined Sovereign Bank in August 2004 to launch tax and non-tax equipment lease products for all asset classes. He spent 15 years at Fleet Capital Corporation where he was Vice President, National Finance Manager, responsible for developing and communicating pricing philosophy and methodology to the bank relationship managers, the leasing sales force and senior management, and for providing pricing and structuring support for all leasing products. He was also involved in providing lease product education to relationship managers and their clients. Prior to Fleet, Smith was at a non-bank equipment lessor, Signal Capital Corporation. A graduate of the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Smith will continue to help grow and lead the equipment finance and lease vertical for Peapack Capital.

Johnston has over 30 years of leasing and structured finance expertise in the origination of middle market and large-ticket asset finance transactions in the primary and secondary syndication markets and on a direct basis. He joined Peapack Capital in 2017 as Senior Vice President, Capital Markets, responsible for indirect originations of leasing and asset finance transactions from bank lessors, independent lessors, finance companies and intermediaries in addition to all out-bound syndications. As Peapack Capital’s National Director of Sales, Johnston will lead an accomplished sales team in both direct and indirect sales, helping to expand and grow the subsidiary for Peapack-Gladstone Bank. Prior to joining Peapack Capital, he also served in Capital Market roles at Sumitomo Mitsui Finance & Leasing, Citizens Asset Finance, AIG Commercial Asset Finance and Siemens Financial Services, Inc. A resident of Mountainside, NJ, Johnston earned his Bachelor of Science in Finance from Fairfield University in Fairfield, CT and Master of Business Administration in Finance from Fordham University, NY, NY.

Peapack Capital provides equipment and asset financing from $3 million to $30 million, to middle market and large corporate clients across the U.S.