Marquette, Mich.-based Range Bank promoted eight employees to executive roles, including Benjamin Wood to executive vice president; Rachel Simonsen to chief operations officer; Angie Knauss to senior VP, mortgage loan officer; Chris Gobert to VP, mortgage loan officer; and Brian Syrjala to chief home mortgage officer.
The bank also promoted Christy Smith to mortgage loan officer; and Stacy Bouman and Joe Sayen to branch administration officers.
Wood graduated from Alma College, Alma, Mich., the Graduate School of Banking, and the University of Wisconsin Business School’s executive leadership program. He joined Range Bank in 2016 as the community bank president of Dickinson County and has since assumed additional responsibilities. He will remain branch president in Dickinson and Brown counties.
Simonsen has a business management degree from Northern Michigan University, Marquette. She joined Range Bank in 2010 as a management trainee, and has since held roles in treasury management, deposit operations and IT. Most recently, she was VP, branch administration and digital banking officer. Through her leadership, the bank has implemented numerous new digital banking tools, and created a department of six employees dedicated to supporting those offerings.
Syrjala joined Range Bank in 2011 as a mortgage business development officer. He has more than three decades of banking experience, with the majority of that time in mortgage lending. He has a business management degree from Northern Michigan University.
Knauss has more than 35 years of experience in finance, most of it in mortgage lending. She joined Range Bank in 2006 as a mortgage loan officer. She has a finance degree from Northern Michigan University.
Gobert has more than 15 years of experience in the financial industry and joined Range Bank in 2009. Since then, he’s held several roles, including branch manager and loan officer. He has a managerial finance degree from Northern Michigan University.
Smith has more than 14 years of experience in the financial industry. She joined Range Bank in 2008, and has experience in both the mortgage and business banking departments. A Northern Michigan University graduate, she’s also been a mortgage processor, commercial loan processor, credit analyst and business banking portfolio manager.
Bouman joined Range Bank in 2013, and has been a teller, branch manager, and employee development manager. She has a degree from Northern Michigan University.
Sayen joined Range Bank in 2010, and has been a teller, branch manager and regional branch administrator.
