Retail & Business Banking Department
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First Bank 1395 Yardville-Hamilton Square Rd. Hamilton, NJ 08691
(877) 821-BANK (2265)
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Darleen Gillespie is First Bank's FSVP/Chief Retail Banking Officer. She is responsible for overall execution and development of the bank’s deposit gathering strategy as well as leadership of the bank’s branch network to ensure operations that effectively support the bank’s deposit goals.
Darleen has over 28 years of experience in Retail banking and branch management leading a team to meet bank objectives. She comes to First Bank from a SVP/Regional Management position with Provident Bank overseeing the retail network in their Central New Jersey Market.
Ms. Gillespie earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Ramapo College and MBA From the University of Massachusetts Isenberg School of Business. She is a past student of the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking and has a leadership certificate from the Wharton School of Business. She is a member of Middlesex and Princeton Regional Chambers of Commerce.
Frank Puleio is Senior Vice President/Business Development & Government Banking Officer covering the Cranbury and Somerset Offices, where he is responsible for developing business and obtaining government deposits for First Bank. Prior to First Bank, Frank was an Operations Officer & Retail Branch Administrator for Brunswick Bank and Trust in New Brunswick. He has been in banking for over 30 years.
Mr. Puleio attended Monmouth College, American Institute of Banking, NCR Data Processing School in NYC, and Nielsen School of Real Estate in East Brunswick. He is currently a member of the Government Affairs Committee of the Middlesex County Regional Chamber of Commerce, a current member and past Director of Jamesburg/Monroe Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the New Brunswick Rotary.
Michael Smith is Senior Vice President - Director of Small Business Banking & Corporate Development out of our Corporate Headquarters in Hamilton, NJ. Michael is responsible for overseeing the Small Business Market Segment at the bank. He is responsible for the strategic development of the small business product set, profitable growth in small business deposits and loans, implementation of the small business digital experience, and the overall small business customer journey. In addition to his small business responsibilities, Michael oversees the Marketing, Client Experience, and Corporate Learning & Development divisions of the Bank.
Michael has been in bank leadership positions for over 20 years. Prior to joining First Bank, he recently held various leadership positions at Investors Bank as a Regional Sales Manager, Director of Small Business Sales Management, Director of Learning & Development, and Corporate Sales Manager.
Michael is active in the community holding existing and previous board seats with the Roma Bank Charitable Foundation, Mercer County Charitable Foundation, United Way of Greater Mercer County, and as an advisory member at Kids Chance of New Jersey. Michael received his bachelor’s degree from West Virginia University (WVU) and his MBA degree from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Michael currently resides in Wall Township with his wife Jennifer and their three children, Kai, Kenna and Ella.
Casi Tiernan is a Senior Vice President and Head of Cash Management for First Bank. She is responsible for overseeing the Treasury functions of the bank, including Remote Deposit, wire transfers, and other services that help businesses handle their banking smoothly.
Casi brings over 20 years of banking experience where she has specialized in servicing commercial clients while providing a variety of banking solutions that include a full complement of treasury management services. Casi has expertise in all treasury solutions that include remote deposit capture, ACH origination, Positive Pay and lockbox services where she works with clients through the treasury life cycle that includes client analysis, onboarding, training and implementation.
Prior to First Bank, Ms. Tiernan was the VP of Cash Management Operations at Beneficial Bank where she managed Cash Management implementations and the client care center teams. She is an Accredited ACH Professional (AAP).
Phone: (215) 589-6203
Ryan Earley joined the First Bank team as Business Banker in November 2018. He is responsible for growing the bank’s commercial deposit business from First Bank’s Doylestown, PA location. He brings over a decade of banking experience to First Bank, where he specializes in servicing commercial clients while providing a range of banking solutions that include a full complement of cash management and lending capabilities. Ryan’s banking philosophy involves a proactive single point of contact approach to solving his client’s needs. Simply put, people bank with who they trust to get the job done in an efficient and transparent manner. Ryan fully embraces the importance and value of what clients seek in a bank partner while bringing solutions to help companies grow their businesses.
Before joining First Bank, Ryan served as a Commercial Relationship Manager Vice President in the Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery County regions for Customers Bank in Newtown, PA. He spent 4 years at Royal Bank America as Head Business Development Officer where he worked directly with the Chief Retail Officer and CEO on a number of special projects enlisted to grow the Bank’s aggressive deposit and lending goals.
Ryan has successfully worked for a number of other large financial institutions in his past banking endeavors to include PNC Bank, TD Bank and Citizens, all while honing his retail sales and service foundation that he draws on today. Ryan resides in Lower Moreland Township with his wife and two daughters, where he is volunteer coach for his local high school’s Track and Field team. He is a spirited advocate for local nonprofit animal shelters and longtime volunteer and supporter of the Cradles for Crayons organization providing warm clothing for the children on Philadelphia’s less fortunate.
