Associated Bank announced the appointment of Phillip Trier and Gregory Warsek to its Executive Leadership Team, effective November 1, 2024.
Phillip Trier, 46, will serve as executive vice president, head of Corporate and Commercial Banking, reporting directly to President and CEO Andy Harmening. Trier joined the company in December 2023 to accelerate core Commercial Middle Market business development across the company's major metropolitan markets and lead its equipment finance and leasing vertical, and commercial deposit and treasury management sales and service strategies. In his elevated role, Trier will lead all aspects of Associated's Commercial banking, creating a unified structure to ensure alignment across this business line and will continue to be based in the Twin Cities.
"In the time he's been with Associated, Phil has shown strong leadership and vision while delivering results that grow our business and advance our strategic plan," Harmening said. "Gaining market share in our commercial business is a key pillar of Associated Bank's strategy, and with Phil's expertise and leadership, I am confident we will continue to expand this segment as we move into the next phase of our plan."
Gregory Warsek, 60, will serve as executive vice president, deputy head of Commercial Real Estate and Facilities. Warsek began his career with US Bank and joined Associated Bank in 2002 to establish its Chicago Commercial Real Estate business, as well as the St. Louis Commercial Real Estate Loan Production Office in 2004. Additionally, Warsek created the Institutional and Real Estate Investment Trust groups in 2014 to strategically build out the bank's commercial real estate capabilities in the fund, corporate real estate and public REIT markets and has successfully led Associated's CRE offices and loan production as group leader since 2022.
Warsek will continue reporting to Paul Schmidt, head of Commercial Real Estate and Facilities, until March 2025. At that time, Schmidt will step down from the ELT as head of CRE and Facilities but remain as Twin Cities market president and advisor to CRE and Facilities until the end of 2025, when he plans to retire.
"Under Greg's leadership, the CRE and Facilities team will undoubtedly continue the momentum and success achieved under Paul's direction," said Harmening. "Greg's deep knowledge of commercial real estate and his commitment to supporting the local communities we serve has earned the respect of banking industry leaders within our verticals."
John Utz, currently head of Corporate and Commercial Banking, will become head of Specialized Industries and Capital Markets and remain Milwaukee market president. Utz has been with Associated since 2010. As executive vice president, he will oversee the Specialized Industries of Power and Utilities, Data Centers, Asset Based Lending, Government Banking, Mortgage Warehouse, Financial Institutions and Insurance. Utz also oversees the bank's capital markets division which is comprised of interest rate derivatives, commodity derivatives, and foreign exchange. Further, he is responsible for the Bank's Associated Equity Investments department as well as risk and credit management for the wholesale bank.