CIT Group made two key appointments to its equipment finance division to support the growth of its industrial market segments.

Maurice Smith will cover the Eastern territory and Susan Taldone will cover the Midwest territory of the U.S. Both Smith and Taldone are responsible for originating and managing dealer and distributor relationships in the construction, agriculture, material handling and transportation industries.

“With these hires, we continue our expansion plans to add resources throughout the country to better serve our manufacturer and dealer clients,” said Harold Ray, industrial commercial leader of CIT’s equipment finance business. “Their experience and long-standing relationships in the industrial sector provide them with the expertise to structure commercial customer finance programs for manufacturers and distributors.”

Smith joins CIT from PNC Bank. He has more than 10 years of experience in industrial financing for small to middle ticket construction and transportation businesses. Taldone joins from Bank of the West and has more than two decades of experience in commercial client financing of construction, material handling and transportation assets.