Thomas J. Shara
President and Chief Executive Officer,
Lakeland Bancorp and Lakeland Bank

Prior to joining Lakeland Bancorp, Shara served as President and Chief Lending Officer of TD Banknorth’s Mid-Atlantic Division, which includes New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. He was responsible for all aspects of commercial lending, including a loan portfolio with outstandings in excess of $3.5 billion.

He also oversaw a network of 160 branches in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Prior to TD Banknorth acquiring Hudson United Bank, Mr. Shara was Executive Vice President and Senior Loan Officer at Hudson United, a $9 billion commercial bank, where he oversaw organic growth and was responsible for integrating over 30 acquisitions.
 

Robert A. Vandenbergh
Senior Executive Vice President and
Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Vandenbergh is responsible for all lending, leasing, operations and retail functions for Lakeland Bancorp. He began his career working at Midlantic Bank/North, in NJ in 1980. At Midlantic he held various positions over the years; he was Manager of Commercial Credit; Vice President and Manager of the International Department, responsible for administration, credit quality and portfolio development.

In 1990, he became Senior Vice President and Senior Loan Administrator of the bank. He joined The National Bank of Sussex County in 1991, assuming responsibility for the overall administration of the bank's loan portfolio; he became a Director of NBSC in 1995, Executive Vice President in 1997, and President of the bank in November 1998. A graduate of Ramapo College with a B.S. degree in Business Administration, Mr. Vandenbergh is active in the Sussex County Chamber of Commerce. He is Chairman of the Sussex County Community College, and is a Karen Ann Quinlan Foundation Trustee.
 

Jeffrey J. Buonforte
Executive Vice President and
Senior Government/Business Services Officer

Mr. Buonforte's responsibilities include the oversight of Municipal Banking, Wealth Management, including building and developing our Sales Reps, Cash Management and Business Development. Mr. Buonforte has over twenty-six years of sales and retail banking experience, with most of his knowledge of branch administration, personnel training, marketing, nontraditional banking products, and new business development attained at National Community Bank and its successor, Bank of New York.

As Senior Vice President and Regional Manager, he was responsible for marketing retail banking products and services to consumer and small business markets for the Bank. He was Director of Sales and Marketing for Computerland, Secaucus NJ and was an Account Executive for Merrill Lynch, Paramus, NJ. Mr. Buonforte holds a B.S. degree, Magna Cum Laude, in Economics and Accounting from Nichols College, Dudley, Massachusetts. He is also a graduate, with honors, of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking, University of Delaware. He formerly served on the Board of Directors of the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce and also on the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce.
 

Joseph F. Hurley
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Hurley joined Lakeland Bancorp in 1999 as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer with responsibility for the Controller, Investment and Treasury functions. He previously served as Deputy Controller of Bankers Trust and Corporate Controller at Westpac Banking Corporation and HSBC Securities.

Mr. Hurley began his career with Price Waterhouse and, most recently, Mr. Hurley was the Chief Financial Officer of Hudson United Bancorp, a $9 billion New Jersey based community bank. Mr. Hurley holds an undergraduate and MBA degree from Rutgers University. He is also a graduate of the College for Financial Planners. A Certified Public Accountant, Mr. Hurley is a member of the American Institute of CPA's and serves on the Finance Committee of various community organizations.
 

Louis Luddecke
Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer

Mr. Luddecke's responsibilities include the consolidation and reorganization of internal operations. Mr. Luddecke began his banking career at the Bank of Passaic and Clifton, predecessor of Valley Bank.

He moved to Horizon Bank, Morristown, NJ, where he served for eleven years; at Horizon, his responsibilities grew to include direct charge of Branch Operations, ATM's and Project Management, in addition to serving as a member of the Horizon Bancorp Steering Committee. In 1987, Mr. Luddecke was recruited to organize and establish Metropolitan State Bank, Montville, NJ, where he was Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer. He has been involved in all aspects of community banking operations, marketing, personnel and finance. Mr. Luddecke is a past Sussex County District Chairman of Boy Scouts of America.
 

James R. Noonan
Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer

Mr. Noonan oversees the Credit Department and is responsible for loan review, collections, special assets, and commercial appraisal control.

Mr. Noonan's banking career began at People's Trust of New Jersey and continued through merger to United Jersey Bank, Summit Bank, and Fleet National Bank. His experience includes commercial lending, credit policy and risk management.

A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, Mr. Noonan received his MBA from Farleigh Dickinson University. He has taught courses for AIB in loan negotiations and customer calling skills.
 

Ronald E. Schwarz
Executive Vice President and Chief Retail Officer

Mr. Schwarz has over 30 years of retail banking experience in Northern, New Jersey, most recently with Sovereign Bank where he held the position of Executive Vice President and Market Executive of Retail Banking for their Northern New Jersey division. In this capacity, he was responsible for all aspects of management for a 79 branch network and over $4 billion in deposits. Mr. Schwarz also has been actively involved in small business lending initiatives. Prior to Sovereign, he was Senior Vice President and Director of Retail Banking for Independence Community Bank. Other employment included positions with Broad National Bank, Urban National Bank, Midlantic National Bank and United Jersey Bank.

Mr. Schwarz is a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Hudson County Community College Foundation.
 

David S. Yanagisawa
Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer

Mr. Yanagisawa has over 38 years experience in all areas of commercial banking, most recently as Senior Loan Officer with TD Bank in the northern NJ market. Before TD Bank’s acquisition of Hudson United Bank in 2006, Yanagisawa had been with Hudson United Bank for 9 years, prior to which he was, through successive mergers, with Citizens First National Bank of NJ, NatWest Bank and Fleet National Bank. Mr. Yanagisawa is also a member of Garden State Credit Associates and Risk Management Associates and is a board member of the Volunteer Center of Bergen County. 

Mr. Yanagisawa holds a M.B.A. and Bachelor’s degree from Fairleigh Dickenson University and advanced banking degrees from The Stonier Graduate School of Banking and The Graduate Commercial Lending School.