John Berton has almost thirty-five years of experience in commercial credit, lending and relationship management, assisting small to medium-sized businesses in achieving their financial goals. He was most recently a Vice President of Commercial Lending with BayCoast Bank since 2013 and has previously held commercial banking positions at Citizens Bank, Webster Bank and Rockland Trust Company, after starting his career in Florida with Barnett Bank. He is gratified to have strongly participated in the Small Business Administration lending market during his career; most recently as a specialty team member for the vital PPP Lending Program throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic. John is experienced in developing and maintaining commercial banking relationships to provide financial solutions for a broad spectrum of businesses, as well as non-profit and government entities in the market; as a result, he successfully increases and maintains diverse loan portfolios and has also managed large municipal relationships. John earned his bachelor's degree from Louisiana State University in Shreveport and has continued his banking education by staying current through completion of numerous RMA and ABA courses throughout his career.