Left to right: Jeremy Canestri, Earnest Clayton and Lee Fernandez

Westerly, Rhode Island-based The Washington Trust Co. has expanded its Connecticut presence with a new commercial lending office in New Haven.

The new location is at 265 Church St. in an office adjacent to Washington Trust’s wealth management office.

“With the opening of the New Haven Commercial Lending office, Washington Trust can support more businesses and municipalities by continuing to provide commercial & industrial (C&I) loans, commercial real estate (CRE) financing, and cash management services across the state,” Edward O. “Ned” Handy III, Washington Trust’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “This expansion is vital to the Connecticut market as we believe there is growing demand for a bank like Washington Trust that offers a full line of deposit, lending, wealth management, and digital banking services, along with a high level of personal customer service.”

The $5 billion-asset Washington Trust has increased commercial real estate and C&I financing in the New Haven and Hartford areas over the last few years, the statement said. Recent deals include $27 million in financing to Rocky Hill Properties LLC, $16.39 million to V20 Group-related entity in Darien and $1.4 million to DCR Anderson WAG LLC in Waterbury.

The New Haven commercial lending office has seven employees, including three vice presidents who recently joined the commercial banking team, the statement said.

Earnest Clayton joined the bank as vice president of commercial real estate. Clayton has more than a decade of commercial lending experience, including C&I credit analysis, portfolio management, construction loan monitoring and U.S. Small Business Administration loan underwriting. He was previously a vice president and senior commercial credit analyst with Patriot Bank.

Lee Fernandez also joined the bank as vice president of commercial real estate. Fernandez has more than 20 years of commercial real estate and banking experience, including portfolio management experience in C&I, CRE and small business lending. He was previously at Naugatuck-based Ion Bank as senior vice president of commercial lending.

Jeremy Canestri is now vice president of cash management after joining Washington Trust from Webster Bank. Canestri has more than 15 years of banking experience, including 10 years in cash management operations and product development.

“We have a terrific team of commercial bankers who live, work, and have experience in the Connecticut market,” Handy said in the statement. “We look forward to being a key component to the growth and prosperity of the Connecticut economy.”

In addition to the commercial lending and wealth management offices, Washington Trust has a mortgage office in Glastonbury and a retail branch in Mystic.