Thomas Kemly, the CEO and president of Columbia Bank, has been named chairman of the New Jersey Bankers Association for its 2019-2020 fiscal year, the group announced.
Thomas Shara, the CEO and president of Lakeland Bank, was named first vice chairman. John Fitzgerald, the CEO and president of Magyar Bank, was named second vice chairman.
Kemly is known for his strategic vision and dedication toward affordable housing, local business and community development, and helping those in need.
He implemented a number of programs to expand employment opportunities at Columbia Bank, including “Team Columbia,” employee volunteers who participate in community and charitable endeavors. He also greatly expanded the Columbia Bank Foundation, which is now one of the largest private giving foundations in the state. In 2018, it provided more than $1.25 million in donations to local charities, boards of education and municipalities.
Kemly, who serves as a director at the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey, began his 37-year career at Columbia Bank in 1981 as a management trainee. In 2012, he was appointed CEO and president.
Shara was named CEO and president of Lakeland Bank in 2008. Prior to joining Lakeland, he served as president and chief lending officer of the TD Banknorth (now TD Bank) Mid-Atlantic Division, which included New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
Prior to TD Banknorth acquiring Hudson United Bank, he was executive vice president and senior loan officer of HUBCO, a $9 billion commercial bank, where he oversaw organic growth and was responsible for integrating over 30 acquisitions.
Shara serves on the board of trustees of the Boys and Girls Club of Paterson and Passaic and on the board of directors of CIANJ. He also serves on the board of governors of the Ramapo College Foundation and the Chilton Medical Center Foundation.
Fitzgerald was named CEO and president of Magyar Bank, a community bank headquartered in New Brunswick, in 2010. An industry veteran of more than 30 years, Fitzgerald joined Magyar Bank in 2001 and established the bank’s Commercial Lending Department.
A graduate of the University of Maryland, where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in economics, and the Stonier Graduate School of Banking, Fitzgerald is involved in numerous community and professional organizations, and currently serves as vice chair of the board of trustees for the State Theatre.
He is also a past chairman of the board of the Middlesex County Regional Chamber of Commerce, past president of the North Jersey Chapter of the Risk Management Association, past president for the Community Bankers Association and is a former member of the Dunellen Board of Education.
NJ Bankers, founded 115 years ago, is a trade association representing 89 banks and 200 service providers.
NJBankers officers, along with its board of directors, guide the association as it implements its mission of representing the membership’s interests before state and federal government and regulatory authorities; providing support in public and media relations; professional development and providing employee health insurance benefit programs through its licensed insurance brokerage facility, Bankers Cooperative Group.
The 2019-2020 board of directors
- John Borelli Jr., president, Newfield National Bank
- Robert Curley, South Jersey market president, TD Bank
- Detlef Felschow, CEO/president, Roselle Bank
- Douglas Kennedy, CEO/president, Peapack-Gladstone Bank
- Steven Klein, CEO/president, Northfield Bank
- Thomas Lupo, CEO/president, Regal Bank
- Christopher Maher, chairman/CEO/president, OceanFirst Bank
- Paula Mandell, senior vice president/area executive, M&T Bank
- Christopher Martin, chairman/CEO/president, Provident Bank
- John E. McWeeney Jr., CEO/president, NJBankers
- James Nesci, CEO/president, Boiling Springs Savings Bank
- Michael O’Brien, SVP/market manager, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
- Kevin Peterson, CEO/president, Haddon Savings Bank
- Preston Pinkett III, chairman/CEO, City National Bank of New Jersey
- Robert Rey, CEO/president, NVE Bank
- Patrick Ryan, CEO/president, First Bank
- Larry C. Schmidt, CEO/president, 1st Bank of Sea Isle City
- Michael Shriner, CEO/president, Millington Bank
- Nicholas Tedesco Jr., CEO/president, GSL Savings Bank
- Gregory White, Northern NJ region bank president, Wells Fargo
Immediate former chairman
- William D. Moss, CEO/president, Two River Community Bank
Former chairman
- James S. Vaccaro, chairman/CEO/president, Manasquan Bank
