St. Petersburg bank names new CEO and president

St. Petersburg-based BayFirst Financial, parent company of BayFirst National Bank, says it appointed Thomas Zernick as CEO.

The bank says in a Tuesday news release that it also named Robin Oliver as its president and chief operating officer, effective Monday.

Retiring CEO Anthony N. Leo will remain a director of the company, the bank says, and will also serve as a part-time consultant for strategic matters.

Zernick joined the company in 2016. He was made a board director in February 2023. Zernick served as president of the company since February 2022 and previously served as president of its CreditBench division, which provides government-guaranteed lending to businesses throughout the nation, the bank says.

Zernick first joined the company in 2016.

Oliver has held the role of Bayfirst COO since 2022 and, the bank says, has been influential in the company's operational decision-making and strategy since joining the bank in 2018.

The bank operates 11 full-service banking offices throughout the Tampa Bay region and offers commercial and consumer banking services to businesses and individuals, the bank says.

The bank says it was the No. 1 small business lender in dollar volume in the five-county Tampa Bay market for the U.S. Small Business Administration's 2023 fiscal year. As of Sept. 30, 2023, BayFirst Financial says it had $1.13 billion in total assets.