BUSINESS PEOPLE: Hirings at Gulfside Bank create residential mortgage team

Gulfside Bank, of Sarasota, has hired five senior banking professionals over the last two months, effectively creating an entire department focused on residential mortgages.

The addition of the residential mortgage team complements the bank’s existing commercial, private banking and wealth management offerings and positions the bank to capitalize on the red-hot local residential real estate market.

The five new employees are two residential lenders and one loan processor focused on conventional residential mortgage loans and a dedicated lender and a processor for nonconventional residential portfolio mortgage loans.

Mark Moore joins Gulfside Bank as a residential lender. His prior experience includes four years at Sabal Palm Bank, 20 years at Peoples Community Bank, two years at Accredited Home Lenders and 14 years at Northwest Financial, which later became Wells Fargo.

Robert Wright is also a residential lender. He was previously a residential loan specialist at Sabal Palm Bank. Before that he spent six years with Movement Mortgage, 13 years with Embrace Home Loans and four years with Wells Fargo.

Chris Blanchard joins Gulfside Bank as a mortgage loan processor. Blanchard worked at Sabal Palm Bank as a loan assistant for six years. Before that, he was an assistant branch manager at Cadence Bank. Blanchard has a total of 28 years’ experience in banking.

Kathy Collums joins Gulfside Bank as a senior vice president and consumer banking director. She will be responsible for oversight of the retail banking unit, including future branch expansion efforts, as well as origination of the bank’s nonconventional residential portfolio mortgage loans.

Collums began her banking career in 1979 as a teller, and over the next four decades rose to the level of senior vice president. She founded Sabal Palm Bank and most recently served as the bank’s senior vice president, city executive.

T.J. Pitzer joins Gulfside Bank as a mortgage loan processor. For the last 11 years, she was Collums’ loan assistant at Sabal Palm Bank, and prior to that Pitzer amassed an additional 15 years of banking experience.

Gulfside has offices in Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch.

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Associate Ryan M. Guerin has joined the Shumaker law firm’s National Labor, Employment and Benefits Service Line as the latest in a string of strategic hires for the group.

Guerin’s practice primarily focuses on labor and employment, but also covers an array of general and complex commercial litigation matters. He represents employers in litigation involving claims of employment harassment, discrimination, retaliation, leave laws, wage and hour laws, whistleblower laws, enforcement of and defense against nonsolicitation and noncompetition agreements, and other employment-related claims.

He also advises businesses on current legal trends and best employment practices. Guerin represents numerous industries, including clients within the automotive, retail, hospitality, health services, transportation, manufacturing and construction industries.

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Sarasota’s Shumaker law firm has made partner Jason Collier regional leader for the Labor, Employment and Benefits Service Line. With the pandemic, the traditional workplace is continuing to evolve in many ways, from vaccine mandates to increased remote positions.

The announcement comes as Shumaker continues to experience significant growth and momentum. Over the past year, Shumaker has added regional service line leaders for the most quickly growing and in-demand areas of law, including real estate and development; health law; environmental and energy; intellectual property and technology; labor, employment, and benefits; and wealth strategies.

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Simone Peterson has joined Manatee Community Foundation as community investment officer. She will oversee grants and scholarships, build and sustain relationships with nonprofit and community partners, and support donors with their advisements from donor-advised funds.

Peterson comes to the foundation after a 14-year career with Manatee County government. She was born and raised in Manatee County and is passionate about a community where all citizens are connected and supported.

At Manatee County government, Peterson managed grant funding for neighborhood enhancement projects; served as a liaison between Manatee County government and assigned neighborhoods; built partnerships between nonprofits, neighborhoods and governments; and researched and implemented programs and initiatives that may benefit Manatee County residents.

She is also a small business owner.

Peterson holds a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Public Administration from University of South Florida.

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Billy Adams was recently named the 2021 Top Revenue Producer for JMX Brands, the parent company of the largest online retailer of Amish furniture at https://www.dutchcrafters.com.

Sales and Service Manager Joseph Benson presented the award to Adams during the company’s annual award ceremony.

Originally from Venice, Adams was hired by JMX Brands in February 2020 as a sales support associate. Adams joined the Sarasota-based business with a background in furniture design and was quickly promoted to furniture specialist.

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Yuliya V. Swaim has joined Steven D. Hutton and Przemyslaw L. Dominko at their Sarasota law firm, effective March 1.

The firm's new name is Hutton, Dominko & Swaim, PLLC.

Born and raised in Zaporizhya, Ukraine, Swaim earned degrees in international relations and international private law at the Kyiv Institute of International Relations of National T. Shevchenko University.

After immigrating to the United States, she pursued her legal education at Stetson University College of Law, where she earned her LLM international law and J.D. degrees.

Swaim focuses her practice on complex business litigation.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Gulfside Bank hires five, Shumaker partner becomes regional leader