NBT Bank Connecticut Regional President Andreas Kapetanopoulos announced that M. Kate Van Valkenburg has joined the bank as it moves into the Connecticut market.

Van Valkenburg will be the senior vice president and senior commercial banking relationship manager.

“We’re rapidly building a respected local team and are excited to welcome Kate and her wealth of commercial banking expertise,” Kapetanopoulos said.

Last month, NBT Bank announced the addition of a regional commercial banking manager, Steve Angeletti, and senior credit analyst Elizabeth Hayden.

Van Valkenburg has more than 18 years of commercial banking experience, including underwriting, management and lending. Most recently she was a commercial loan officer for ION Bank in Farmington. Van Valkenburg lives in Avon and is a board member for Gifts of Love in Avon and Neighborhood Housing Services of New Britain.

Norwich, New York-based NBT Bank began operating in the New England region in 2009 with the opening of its Vermont regional headquarters in Burlington. The bank now has approximately 170 employees and $1.5 billion in loans regionally, as well as locations in four states, including Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. The bank expects to reveal the location for its regional headquarters in Connecticut during the first quarter of 2020.