Movers & Shakers — Celtic Bank Names Josh Hovermale CCO and Ben Johnson Chief Commercial Finance Officer, Lance Christian Joins Stone Bank
March 27, 2025
Bob Coleman
Founder & Publisher
Movers & Shakers — Celtic Bank Names Josh Hovermale CCO and Ben Johnson Chief Commercial Finance Officer, Lance Christian Joins Stone Bank
Josh Hovermale, CCO and Ben Johnson, CCFO, Join Celtic Bank
Celtic Bank announces two key additions to its executive team of Ben Johnson as Chief Commercial Finance Officer and Josh Hovermale as Chief Credit Officer.
“The recruitment of both Josh and Ben was the result of an extensive, thoughtful and strategic process. I could not be more excited to have them both on the Celtic team. Their respective knowledge, expertise and understanding of the banking and financial services industry will allow Celtic Bank to continue to pursue its 25-year history of growth and innovation,” says Reese Howell, Jr, Celtic’s Chief Executive Officer.
Ben Johnson (right) comes to Celtic from Silicon Valley Bank where he led three different business divisions over seventeen years. The most recent division he led at SVB was a seed-stage commercial banking unit in the United States. Before that, he built a national business development startup unit and grew a regional specialized commercial finance division.
In his new role as Chief Commercial Finance Officer, he’ll be building on the success of Specialty Commercial Finance Group with its $1.3 billion in assets. SCFG consists of six different financing units: Equipment, Asset-based, Construction, Franchise, Renewable and Corporate Finance.
Josh Hovermale (left) joins Celtic Bank from BMO, where he served as Managing Director and Head of Portfolio Management for its US Diversified Corporate Banking team. Prior to US Diversified, Josh worked in the Special Assets Management Unit, developing and implementing strategies to prevent or limit loan loss.
He brings to Celtic over 20 years of financial services experience with a focus on credit underwriting and portfolio risk management.
Lance Christian Joins Stone Bank as Business Development Officer
Lance Christian, of Atlanta, has joined Stone Bank as a vice president and business development officer. Christian specializes in government-guaranteed loans and will be headquartered in Atlanta.
He is a native Atlantan and is a 25-year veteran of the financial services industry. He was formerly associated with Merchants and Marine Bank in Atlanta and is a graduate of Georgia State University.
Stone Bank is headquartered in Little Rock with 5 locations in Arkansas and business development offices across the U.S.