The New Jersey Bankers Association (NJBankers) recently held its annual Rising Star Awards Dinner, recognizing promising leaders under age 40 who are making a meaningful impact at their companies and in their communities.
Honorees are nominated by their bank and chosen by an independent panel of judges based on their leadership qualities, contributions to the banking industry, and their commitment to better serving their community.
Blue Foundry Bank
Melanie Pellegrino, Blue Foundry Sales Support Manager, is among the NJBankers 2024 Rising Stars.
Pellegrino was recognized for her exceptional leadership, impactful contributions to the banking industry, and dedication to the communities served. With six years of experience in the banking industry, she joined Blue Foundry Bank in 2018 as a part-time teller, and worked her way up to a Floating Assistant Manager position before taking on her current role as Associate Regional Sales Manager.
Kearny Bank
Rising Star Emmanuel Ramirez is 1st Vice President – Director of SEC Reporting at Kearny Bank. He started with Valley in September 2023 and heads SEC Reporting, accounting policies, financial planning and analysis, and other areas.
Kearny Bank (NASDAQ GS: KRNY) reported net income for the quarter ended Sept. 30 of $6.1 million, or $0.10 per diluted share. Total assets were $7.77 billion at September 30, 2024, an increase of $88.9 million, or 1.2%, from June 30.
Provident Bank
Rising Star Jeff Sgarro is the Retail & Operations Training Manager at Provident Bank.
Sgarro started with the bank in 2015 as a teller and went on to become a supervisor, manager, coach, and trainer. He has developed training materials and course work and has created and delivered instructor-led and virtual learning modules.
Established in 1839, Provident Bank serves individual and commercial customers and completed its $1.3 billion merger with Lakeland Bancorp, Inc. six months ago. The combined company operates under “Provident Financial Services, Inc.” and “Provident Bank” and has 140 branches across New Jersey and parts of New York and Pennsylvania.
Spencer Savings Bank
Noah Michael O’Hare, Spencer Savings Bank’s VP, Retail Operations Administrator, was honored with the Rising Star award.
O’Hare has over 10 years of banking experience and is responsible for supporting the advancement of the bank’s community reinvestment initiatives and philanthropic activities. He serves as President of the New Jersey Pride Chamber of Commerce.
Valley Bank
Robert Meighan and Margaux Howard of Valley Bank were both honored as Rising Stars.
Meighan started with Valley in 2018 as an assistant vice president and training specialist and has moved up the ranks to first vice president in learning and development.
Howard is a first vice president in charge of Capital Markets: Correspondent Banking Business Development. She started with Valley in 2022 and launched her banking career with Citi in 2009.
Valley Bank has over $62 billion in assets and more than 200 consumer branches and commercial banking offices in communities across the U.S. Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ: VLY), the holding company for Valley National Bank, recently announced a proposed public offering of shares of its common stock. Valley expects to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes and investments in Valley National Bank as regulatory capital.
New Jersey Bankers Association
The New Jersey Bankers Association has been an advocate for the New Jersey banking industry for more than 119 years. The Rising Stars event is held annually and this year was held at The Stone House at Stirling Ridge in Warren, New Jersey.
The New Jersey Bankers Association membership consists of banking institutions of all banking charters that are headquartered or have branches in New Jersey. In addition, over 200 firms that provide goods and services to the banking community are associate members. The association is governed by a 23-member board of directors and, with its affiliated company, Bankers Cooperative Group (BCG), is staffed by 18 employees.
Our primary mission is to represent our membership’s interests before state and federal government and regulatory authorities. In addition, NJBankers provides our members with services and support in public and media relations, education and employee health insurance benefit programs.