Michael P. Daly Elected Berkshire Hills Chairman; Lawrence A.
Bossidy Elected Lead Independent Director
PITTSFIELD, Mass., Dec. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Berkshire
Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: BHLB) today announced that President and
CEO Michael P. Daly has been elected
Chairman of the Board of Directors effective on January 1, 2013. The Board has also elected
current Chairman Lawrence A. Bossidy
to the new position of Lead Independent Director effective on the
same day. Identical elections of Messrs. Daly and Bossidy
were made by the Board of Berkshire Bank, the banking subsidiary of
Berkshire Hills Bancorp.
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CEO Daly stated, "I'm honored to assume the leadership of the
Berkshire Board and I look forward
to continuing the strong focus on business execution which has been
a hallmark of Larry Bossidy's long
and distinguished leadership of our Company. I'm delighted
that he will continue to have an active role in his new capacity as
Lead Independent Director. Our team has built a locally
focused, customer-centric institution and invested in a strong
infrastructure positioned across the middle of our four state
region. The Board and the Company remain committed to
responsibly serving the financial needs of our markets and to
providing strong returns to our investors."
Mr. Bossidy added, "The election of Mike
Daly as Chairman recognizes his success as CEO in building
our strong franchise, and the confidence of our directors in his
judgment, business acumen, and leadership. I look forward to
working with him in my new role as Lead Independent Director, in
conjunction with our Board and management team, to achieve
continuing success in serving all of our constituencies."
Mr. Daly was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of
the Company and the Bank in October 2002. During his tenure
as chief executive, Mr. Daly has navigated Berkshire through significant growth, market
share expansion, and profitability gains. Total assets have
risen to $5.5 billion, with 75
branches operating in Massachusetts, New
York, Connecticut and
Vermont. Among Mr. Daly's achievements are the creation of
Berkshire Bank's distinctive "America's Most Exciting
Bank®" brand platform and the development of a high
performance team oriented culture. Berkshire is now one of the country's hundred
largest exchange traded banks. In recognition of its standing
and achievements, Berkshire
recently moved its stock listing to the New York Stock
Exchange.
Mr. Daly is a Pittsfield native
who began his banking career in commercial lending with Bank of
Boston. He joined the Company in 1986, rising to Executive
Vice President and Senior Loan Officer prior to his appointment as
CEO. Mr. Daly holds a Master of Business Administration
degree from the Columbia University School of
Business and a Bachelor of Science degree from Westfield State College. He currently serves as
chairman of the board of the Berkshire Business Roundtable and the
Berkshire County Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, as well as serving
with several other boards and volunteer associations.
Mr. Bossidy joined the Board as Chairman in 2002 and serves on
the Compensation and Corporate Governance/Nominating Committees.
His notable career has included the positions of Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Honeywell International, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of AlliedSignal, Chief Operating Officer of
General Electric Credit, President of General Electric's Services
and Materials Sector and Vice Chairman of General Electric. Mr.
Bossidy has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of
Merck & Co., J.P. Morgan, and K&F Industries
Holdings. In his new position as Berkshire's Lead Independent Director, he is
expected to have involvement in agenda-setting, communication with
other independent directors, planning, and performance evaluation
activities. The duties and responsibilities of this position
will be discussed in the Company's 2013 Proxy Statement.
Berkshire also announced the
retirement of Catherine B. Miller as
a Director of the Company and the Bank, effective immediately. Ms.
Miller has served as a Berkshire Bank director for nearly 30 years
and as a director of the Company since 2000. Mr. Daly
commented, "We appreciate Catherine's long service and knowledge of
our local markets. We wish her well following her retirement
from our Board and look forward to her continued participation on
the Board of the Berkshire Bank Foundation."
BACKGROUND
Berkshire Hills Bancorp is the parent of Berkshire Bank –
America's Most Exciting Bank®. The Company has
approximately $5.5 billion in assets
and 75 full service branch offices in Massachusetts, New
York, Connecticut, and
Vermont providing personal and
business banking, insurance, and wealth management services.
Berkshire Bank provides 100% deposit insurance protection for all
deposit accounts, regardless of amount, based on a combination of
FDIC insurance and the Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF).
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This document may contain forward-looking statements as defined
in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
There are several factors that could cause actual results to differ
significantly from expectations described in the forward-looking
statements. For a discussion of such factors, please see
Berkshire's most recent reports on
Forms 10-K and 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission and available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
Berkshire does not undertake any
obligation to update forward-looking statements made in this
document.
Contacts:
Media Contact: Lori
Gazzillo; AVP, Community Relations; 413-822-1695
Investor Relations Contact: David Gonci: Investor Relations Officer;
413-281-1973
SOURCE Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc.