United Community Bank promoted lending veteran Annemarie Murphy to president of SBA. Murphy has more than 22 years of experience in SBA lending and has been a key leader of the bank’s SBA team since it launched in 2014. In this expanded role, Murphy will continue to grow SBA under the guidance of Rich Bradshaw, United’s president of Commercial Banking Solutions.

“No one is more deserving of this promotion than Annemarie,” said Bradshaw. “She has been instrumental to the strong growth of our SBA division over the past four years. Her understanding of the SBA program and experience within our target industries has led our team to great success. We look forward to continued growth under her leadership.”

Since joining United in 2014, Murphy has served as the senior vice president and chief operations officer of SBA Lending. During her time at United, SBA has grown to 63 employees and $170 million in loan volume. Her experience includes 14 years in the professional lending niche and time within the medical, dental, independent pharmacy, veterinary and death care industries.

“I am honored to work with the talented SBA team assembled by Rich and the executive team here at United,” said Murphy. “We work very hard to find the right financing options for our small business owner clients and help them reach their goals. I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the growth of local communities through the launch and expansion of small business.”

Prior to joining United Community Bank, Annemarie was senior loan officer serving professionals at Live Oak Bank.