JPMorgan Chase announced that Clarence Nunn will join the firm to lead the continued Middle Market expansion strategy in the Southeast and to manage the Franchise Finance business for Chase’s Middle Market Banking & Specialized Industries (MMBSI) team.

Nunn joins the firm from General Electric (GE) and will be based in Charlotte, North Carolina. He succeeds Mark Bensabat who will retire next year after more than 35 years in the banking industry.

Chase has opened new offices in the Southeast in recent months as part of an expansion strategy that will add eight new Middle Market cities in 2016. Currently, Chase has 15 Middle Market offices in the region that spans Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas.

“The Southeast is an important market for Chase and we hired top talent to help us serve our clients,” said John Simmons, head of Chase Middle Market Banking & Specialized Industries. “Clarence’s expertise and experience will bring tremendous value to our business and his deep knowledge of the franchise industry makes him well suited to build upon our efforts in this space.”

Simmons added: “Mark has always been a consummate partner and leader and did a terrific job building the Southeast market to what it is today.”

Nunn was most recently CEO of GE Capital’s Franchise Finance business. He built an accomplished 24-year career at GE and held senior leadership roles in sales, marketing and product development within the Industrial & Financial Service business units in the U.S. and Canada.  Previous to his current role, Clarence served as the CEO for GE Capital’s Fleet Services business and Chief Commercial Officer of GE Capital Americas.

Chase’s Middle Market Banking business consists of 1,700 employees who serve 15,000 mid-sized businesses in 108 local offices across 31 states, and Washington, D.C. and Canada.