Sterling National Bank announced that Peter Welch and Bob Bernard have joined the bank's Long Island office in Melville, New York. Both were given the titles of Senior Vice President and Senior Managing Director, and will be reporting directly to Ed Blaskey, Executive Vice President and Long Island President at Sterling.

The new hires will focus on growing Sterling’s commercial lending activities on Long Island by establishing new client relationships and expanding existing business.

Welch was most recently Senior Vice President at Capital One Bank, where he managed commercial real estate client relationships. Prior to Capital One, Welch served as Assistant Vice President at North Fork Bank, where he focused on providing financing solutions and deposit services to middle market clients in several industries. He also has held various positions at other financial institutions on Long Island throughout his career.

Bernard was most recently Senior Vice President and Long Island Regional Manager for People’s United Bank, where he oversaw a team of relationship managers and credit analysts who delivered loans, deposits, and treasury products. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Lending for Capital One Bank, where he developed relationships with key Long Island commercial real estate clients. Throughout his career Bernard worked with a number of other leading banking organizations, focusing on commercial lending and real estate finance.


“We are thrilled to welcome Peter to our growing team,” Blaskey said of Welch. “He brings over two decades of experience in meeting the financing needs of middle market clients across multiple industries, and has deep Long Island roots. I look forward to working closely with Peter to expand and grow our business in the area.”

Commenting on Bernard, Blaskey noted: “Bob has deep and longstanding relationships throughout the Long Island market that we will seek to leverage as we continue to build our services across the region. His track record of managing commercial real estate portfolios and his results-oriented approach will be important assets for our team.”