Suffolk-based TowneBank recently announced a new promotion as well as a new board of directors member.

Julie Stevens has been promoted to assistant vice president. She is a training and education officer at Towne University in Suffolk.

She has been with TowneBank for 10 years and has 15 years of industry experience. She is a graduate of Christopher Newport University, TowneBank’s Management training program and the Vann H. Lefcoe Leadership Development program. In the community, she volunteers her time with the Portsmouth Service League and the Out of the Darkness Walk, as well as the many local organizations TowneBank supports.

In addition, Carl L. Hardee has been appointed to its Portsmouth/Suffolk Board of Directors.

Hardee is vice president and chief operating officer of The Lawson Companies, a real estate firm based in Virginia Beach. He has been with the company for 24 years.

A Suffolk resident, Hardee earned his Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Military Institute and also holds a real estate broker’s license for the states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Mississippi. He is a past chairman of the Tidewater Multifamily Housing Council, which is part of the Tidewater Builders Association, and a past president of the Institute of Real Estate Management’s Virginia Tidewater Chapter 39 and the Mid-Atlantic Affordable Housing Management Association and is a member of many other professional organizations.

Hardee volunteers his time as a board member for the Southeastern Community Foundation, and he previously served as a commissioner for the Portsmouth Industrial Development Authority and Ports Authority.

With total assets of $6.06 billion as of June 30, 2015, TowneBank is one of the largest banks headquartered in Virginia.