Bonnie Lowe, a former Lawrence mayor who is poised to become chairwoman of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce in January, no longer is president of the Lawrence market for Landmark National Bank.

Lowe announced her departure from the Manhattan-based bank Thursday morning, effective immediately.

“I’m looking forward to exploring other opportunities in the Lawrence market, in the financial sector or otherwise,” Lowe said.

Brad Chindamo, market president for the bank’s eastern region, declined to discuss Lowe’s departure, describing it as a personnel issue. But he said he would be handling Lowe’s responsibilities, for now, at the bank’s Lawrence branch, 2710 Iowa.

“We’ve got a great, capable staff,” Chindamo said.

Landmark, with about $10 million in deposits, plans to open a second location in Lawrence in 2009 at the southwest corner of Sixth Street and Folks Road in northwest Lawrence.

Lowe had been Lawrence market president at the bank and its predecessor, First Savings Bank, since 1999. She served as Lawrence city commissioner in 1995-99, including a one-year term as mayor in 1997-98.

She is chairwoman-elect for the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, which last month hired Tom Kern as its new president and chief executive officer. Kern, who has been chief operating officer for the Fairfax County (Va.) Chamber of Commerce, is expected to start work in Lawrence in November, taking the job vacated earlier this year with the resignation of Lavern Squier.

Chuck Warner, retired president of US Bank in Lawrence, has been serving as the chamber’s interim president and CEO.