Michael W. Bickerton has been named executive vice president, Commercial Lending of Northwest Bank. Steven G. Fisher, senior executive vice president, chief revenue officer, made the announcement.

In his role, Bickerton will oversee Northwest's Commercial Lending department, which provides a full range of commercial financing options across the bank's footprint.

In making the announcement, Fisher said, "Mr. Bickerton is an experienced banker with an extensive commercial lending and credit background. He will be a tremendous asset to our organization and is uniquely qualified to lead the commercial lending department as we continue to profitably grow our commercial lines of business."

Bickerton joins Northwest through the recent acquisition of Lorain National Bank (LNB) where he served as chief credit officer. He has 33 years of experience in commercial banking, middle-market lending, credit policy and risk management.

Northwest Bank operates 182 community banking locations in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and Maryland. Founded in 1896, Northwest is a full-service financial institution offering a complete line of personal and business banking products including employee benefits, investment management services, insurance and trust. Northwest Bancshares, Inc. is the holding company of Northwest Bank.