First Niagara Financial Group has promoted Craig Burton to senior vice president of commercial real estate lending. He is the team leader for the banking company’s Central New York commercial real estate team and is responsible for the origination of construction and permanent financing on a variety of commercial real estate property types covering Rochester and Central New York. Burton began his banking career in 1983 after graduating from SUNY Brockport. Prior to joining First Niagara in 2007, he worked as a senior vice president and client manager for Bank of America.