Former Baylake CEO hired for key post at Greenwoods Financial in Wisconsin

A former CEO of Baylake Corp. has taken a key position at Greenwoods State Bank in Lake Mills, Wis.

The $173 million-asset Greenwoods said in a press release Wednesday that Robert Cera had become its vice chairman with a charge of expanding the bank’s operations “toward attractive markets closer to Milwaukee.”

Cera was CEO at the $980 million-asset Baylake when it agreed in 2015 to sell itself to Nicolet Bancshares. He was also the chairman of the Wisconsin State Banking Association from 2014 to 2015.

“I have a number of great contacts … which I hope to foster and develop into new business for Greenwoods,” Cera said in the release, adding that he also wants to “refine the organization’s overall strategy for acquisitions and transformational change.”