Commercial Banking Group

Kurt Kappa is the Senior Vice President, Chief Lending Officer at First Federal Lakewood, the largest depositor-owned community bank headquartered in Ohio with assets of $1.6 billion. In this role, Kurt oversees all commercial and industrial(C&I)and treasury management teams.
 
Kurt prides himself on building relationships with and making introductions among mid-market business owners in Northeast Ohio. As a member of the bank’s executive team, he provides clients with direct access to lending decision makers.
 
He previously was a Senior Vice President, Market Leader at Westfield Bank, responsible for leading all commercial sales efforts within the Cuyahoga and Lorain County regions. He began his financial services career as a Financial Advisor at UBS.
 
Kurt received a bachelor’s degree in finance from Bowling Green State University and a Master of Business Administration degree in entrepreneurship from Baldwin Wallace University. He is involved in a variety of civic and community leadership roles, including serving on the boards of directors for the Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland, Leadership Medina County, the Greater Medina Chamber of Commerce and the Medina County Economic Development Corporation.
 

Mitch joined First Federal Lakewood in 2019 as a Commercial Lending Officer. His responsibility is to grow the commercial portfolio and help customers find solutions for their financial needs. Mitch was previously the Commercial Portfolio Manager at Westfield Bank, where he was responsible for managing the commercial portfolio for the Cleveland market of $100 million. He handled lines of credit renewals and tracking, as well as financial collection for the market. Mitch earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Kent State University and is a graduate of Cleveland Leadership Center’s On-Board Cleveland.

Scott joined First Federal Lakewood in 2019 as Vice President Commercial Banking Relationship Manager. His role is to actively promote business development, secure new customer relationships, and grow First Federal Lakewood’s commercial loan portfolio. In addition to his commitment to the Commercial Lending team, Scott is focused on creating the best experience for his commercial customers.  His priority is to help his customers come up with solutions to any financing needs they may have, while serving as an advocate for them in their day-to-day operations of their business. He joins the team with a vast knowledge of Commercial Loan portfolio management and growth from his years of experience as the Vice President Team Lead in the Cleveland Market for Westfield Bank. In this position he was responsible for managing a $90 million Commercial Loan portfolio consisting of 60 commercial clients in the Northeast Ohio market. Scott is an involved member of his community and has served as a board member of the Medina County Young Professionals Association and the Wadsworth Young Professionals Association. He has also participated in the Civic Leadership Institute of Cleveland, Leadership Medina County, Leadership Cleveland’s Bridge Builders and OnBoard Cleveland. He received his bachelor’s degree in marketing and finance from Capital University and his master’s degree in management from the University of Akron.

Alix Kaufmann joined First Federal Lakewood in 2012 as an Assistant Branch Manager before becoming a Branch Manager, Sales Manager and then Regional Branch Manager. In 2018, she was promoted to Vice President, Treasury Management Officer where she will be working closely with local businesses to help them find solutions to better manage their finances while providing personalized service. With nearly a decade of financial services experience, she has an extensive background in both commercial and consumer financial products. Alix is a member of the Downtown Lakewood Business Alliance (DLBA), LakewoodAlive, the Near West Theatre and the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce, as well as a board member for the Kiwanis Club of Lakewood. In 2018, she was recognized by LakewoodAlive for her exemplary service to the organization and the Lakewood community. Alix also volunteers at many community events in Lakewood throughout the year, including the Taste of Lakewood, Light up Lakewood, Lakewood Summer Meltdown and more. Alix received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and previously worked as an Assistant Branch Manager at Bank of America.

Matthew (Matt) Lay is a Commercial Banking Relationship Manager with First Federal Lakewood. In this role, he works closely with businesses to help them select the best lending and depository solutions to reach their business goals. Matt has been in the financial services industry for more than 16 years and is highly experienced with commercial real estate loans, business lines of credit, SBA options and a variety of treasury services, such as check scanners and web-based electronic money movement options. Prior to joining First Federal Lakewood in 2014, he was a Relationship Manager with a large national bank and Banking Center Manager with a large regional bank. He received a bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University.

Kurt Lutz is Vice President, Commercial Banking at First Federal Lakewood, focusing on the Akron/Canton and Medina markets. Kurt has more than 30 years of experience in consumer, wholesale and commercial banking roles, with extensive experience in small and mid-sized business lending.  He believes that sharing information openly is critical to creating mutually beneficial long-term relationships and he will be responsible for working with commercial customers in Medina, Stark, and Summit county areas helping them reach their business and financial goals. Previously, Kurt was Vice President-Commercial Lending at Westfield Bank FSB, working with industries spanning manufacturing, health care and professional service providers as well as privately held companies. He has held several other positions in the financial services industry throughout his more than 30-year career. Kurt received a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. He is active in the community, serving on the board of directors for Goodwill Industries in Akron and Cascade Capital Corporation. He also served on the POWWOW corporate sponsorship committee for Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls for 10 years.
 

Karen Mullen joined First Federal Lakewood in April 2019 as a Vice President, Commercial Banking Relationship Manager. As a trusted advisor, She specializes in commercial real estate loans, acquisition loans, day-to-day working capital, and equipment loans. She is passionate about helping businesses save money, simplify banking, improving cash flow, and preventing fraud. Karen joined the team after serving 16 years in banking and previously worked for Citizens Bank and Charter One Bank. She earned her bachelor’s degree from New York Institute of Technology, and has been recognized as a “Young Careerist” by the Business Professional Organization of Ohio. In her spare time, she volunteers for the Red Cross, Junior Achievement, Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio, and the Ohio Basketball Association.

Anthony Yannucci is a Commercial Real Estate Loan Officer with First Federal Lakewood. He is dedicated to achieving solutions for his clients’ financing opportunities. He has more than 30 years of financial services experience, helping arrange solutions for real estate developer/investor clients. He specializes in income-property types, including multi-family, retail, office and industrial/warehouse. He has served as a member of the board of trustees for the Historic Warehouse District Development Corp. and the finance committee of MidTown Cleveland, Incorporated. He previously held positions in commercial real estate at FirstMerit and Home Savings. Anthony holds a master’s degree in finance from Youngstown State University and a bachelor’s degree from Miami University.

Tom Young brings more than 20 years of financial services experience to his role as a Commercial Banking Relationship Manager with First Federal Lakewood. With a strong background in financial analysis Tom helps business owners, controllers and CFOs by offering financial insight that may help them reach their business goals. He enjoys working with customers who recognize how a strong banking relationship can help their business. 
 
Previously, Tom was a Commercial Relationship Manager with First National Bank and Citizens Republic Bank (now Huntington Bank). He has been recognized as a top performer in commercial banking multiple times. He began his career in the financial services industry in retail banking, where he was a Personal Banker and Branch Manager.

In the community, Tom is a board member of the Mentor Economic Assistance Corporation, is the statistician for the Lake Catholic High School varsity football team, and is a graduate of the Leadership Lake County Signature Class of 2018. Tom received a bachelor’s degree in business management from David N. Myers University and earned his MBA from Louisiana State University’s distance learning program.