SPOTLIGHT: BRECK HANSON; Raising Associated Bank's local profile.

Byline: Eddie Baeb

Job: Chicago-based executive vice-president, head of commercial real estate at Associated Bank, since September.
Vitals: 61 years old; bachelor's degree in industrial management, Purdue University, 1970; MBA, Michigan State University, 1971; captain, pilot, U.S. Air Force, Georgia, 1971-77; client relationship manager, vice-president, Northern Trust Corp., Chicago, 1977-86; head of commercial real estate, Exchange National Bank, Chicago, 1986-90; executive vice-president, head of commercial real estate, LaSalle Bank, Chicago, 1990-2007; executive vice-president, head of Midwest commercial real estate, Bank of America Corp., Chicago, 2007-09; founder, principal, Grant Park Associates LLC, Chicago, 2009-10.
Strong suit: More than 30 years' experience, much of it heading LaSalle's commercial real estate group, a dominant player in Chicago.
R%sum% gap: Hasn't been with a bank for almost two years. "I missed the height of the current recession," Mr. Hanson says. "When you go through a downturn like that, there's experience you gain."
Track record: Grew LaSalle's real estate group into the sixth-largest in the U.S., with loan commitments of $23 billion.
Job one: Raise the local profile of Green Bay, Wis.-based Associated and become a bigger player in commercial real estate while margins are good and rivals aren't making many new loans. "Associated has been in this market for quite a while, but hiring someone with the status and experience and presence of Breck Hanson is a major move," says Dave Downey, a managing director at Chicago-based Transwestern who helps raise debt for real estate deals.
Obstacle: The slow-growth economy and prospect of little new development. The strongest demand for loans is for refinancing, but depressed property valuations and cash-strapped borrowers mean few attractive deals.
The plan: Double the bank's $4.2 billion in commercial real estate loan commitments over the next five to seven years.