Santander Bank announced it has expanded the Commercial Banking Equipment Finance and Leasing business with the addition of four industry experts to the team. The new hires report to Vincent Belcastro, head of Equipment Financing and Leasing, and expand the teams’ geographic reach and the key industry sectors it serves.

Robert Rubino, Santander Bank’s co-president and head of Commercial Banking, said, “Our equipment finance business has seen tremendous growth over the past two years, as current and new clients continue to respond favorably to the value of our deepening expertise. Our focus on consistently bringing valuable ideas and solutions to clients as a trusted advisor and life-cycle financial partner is powering our growth across all of our businesses, including equipment finance, and we are committed to adding resources to meet the needs of every client.”

The new Equipment Finance and Leasing hires bring more than 100 years of collective experience to Santander and expands the team to more than 30 professionals. The following are the additions:

• Cheryl Cohen joins Santander as Senior Vice President and National Business Development Officer for the healthcare industry. With more than 35 years in healthcare, Cohen most recently served the industry providing equipment finance solutions at Wells Fargo and Pantheon Capital. She also brings client-side experience, having worked as Chief Financial Officer of a mid-sized hospital chain and as director of finance for a large healthcare insurance system.  With a degree in finance and accounting from Stockton University, and an MBA from Rider University, Cohen is a Fellow and active leader in the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). 
• Michael Johnson is Senior Vice President for the Southeast market, based in Atlanta, and serves clients in Georgia, West Virginia and the surrounding states. He comes to Santander with more than 30 years of experience, including business development, credit and portfolio management roles in equipment finance and asset-based lending at SunTrust Bank, CIT, Bank United and GE Capital. Johnson has a degree in finance from Ohio State University and an MBA from Georgia State University.
• Thomas Linebarger, based in Chicago, is Senior Vice President covering the Midwest markets for clients in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and Minnesota. Linebarger brings expertise in transportation and manufacturing, including the automotive industry, from a 30-year career in commercial banking and equipment finance with Merrill Lynch, Stonebriar and CIT. He has a degree in finance from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University.
• Christopher Clark, based in Rochester, NY, joins the team as Senior Vice President serving Upstate New York and the Northern New England regions assisting clients in Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut. He brings more than 20 years of experience in the equipment finance industry, including a variety of roles in credit, underwriting, operations and new business development at Wells Fargo, First Niagara, TCF and GE Capital. He is a long-time resident of Western New York and has a degree in finance and an MBA from the University at Buffalo.

Vincent Belcastro, Santander’s head of Equipment Financing and Leasing, commented on the importance of the new additions to his team: “We strive to differentiate from our peers by providing valuable ideas and solutions based on deep industry knowledge that is matched with a speed of execution that our clients value. Cheryl, Michael, Thomas and Christopher are seasoned equipment finance professionals that will help us continue to grow our client base across the U.S. with the highest caliber of execution and expertise to every client they serve.”