PITTSFIELD, Mass., Sept. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Berkshire
Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: BHLB) has announced the promotion of
Richard Marotta to President of
Berkshire Bank and Sean Gray to
Chief Operating Officer of the Bank.
Additionally, the Bank promoted the following executives to
Senior Executive Vice President: George
Bacigalupo, Josephine
Iannelli, and Linda
Johnston. Berkshire Bank has also promoted eight
to the executive team, broadening the responsibilities of these
leaders and creating a more effective operating
structure.
Michael Daly, Chief Executive
Officer of the Bank and the Company stated, "Richard and Sean are
results driven, high integrity leaders that have been integral to
the growth of this company and this promotion reflects their
contributions. As we continue to execute on our strategic
vision, their leadership and ability is increasingly important to
our success in driving the America's Most Exciting Bank®
culture across our franchise."
"We are also recognizing the accomplishments of other current
executives and expanding our overall executive team. This
reorganization is a natural extension of the strong growth
Berkshire has experienced and
positions us well for future growth and expansion. We believe
the best way to accelerate our company's progress is to empower the
next level of leadership through more engagement and greater
accountability. We're proud of the bench we've built and our
ability to promote from within. I have no doubt that this
leadership team will drive Berkshire to new heights in performance,
integrity and culture."
CEO Daly went on to say, "We are pleased with our performance so
far this year and we anticipate another solid quarter marked by
double-digit annualized loan growth and improved earnings. We
currently expect to deliver core EPS of $0.52 per share in the third quarter, marking
seven straight quarters of earnings growth. With the new team
in place, I'm excited about the opportunities in front of us and
our ability to continue to capitalize on them."
As President of the Bank, Mr. Marotta will be responsible for
all aspects of administration, risk, and infrastructure, including
people and systems, compliance and credit. He has been
serving Berkshire as EVP, Chief
Risk and Administrative Officer since 2013. Mr. Marotta joined the
Company as EVP, Chief Risk Officer in 2010 from KeyBank, where he
was Executive Vice President and Group Head, Asset
Recovery.
As Chief Operating Officer of the Bank, Mr. Gray will be
responsible for the operating teams of the bank, including retail,
commercial, small business, home lending, wealth management and
insurance. Mr. Gray has been serving Berkshire as EVP, Retail Banking since
2010. He joined Berkshire as First VP, Retail Banking in 2006
from Bank of America where he was VP, Consumer Marketing Manager in
eastern Massachusetts.
The new members of the Bank's executive team come from across
the company and have all demonstrated strong leadership skills in
their time at Berkshire.
- Michael Carroll - Executive Vice
President, Chief Risk and Credit Officer. Mr. Carroll has been
serving as SVP, Chief Credit Officer of Berkshire since 2013 and joined the company as
SVP, Regional Commercial Leader from Key Bank in 2009. He reports
to Mr. Marotta and is responsible for managing the risk and credit
departments of the bank.
- James Curran - Executive Vice
President, Regional Commercial Leader – Central Massachusetts and Connecticut. Mr. Curran joined Berkshire as SVP, Central Massachusetts Leader
in 2011 from Sovereign Bank; he reports to Mr. Bacigalupo.
- Mark Foster - Executive Vice
President, Regional Commercial Leader – Eastern Massachusetts and ABL. Mr. Foster
joined Berkshire as SVP, Asset
Based Lending in 2009 from TD Bank; he reports to Mr.
Bacigalupo.
- Tami Gunsch - Executive Vice
President, Retail Banking. Ms. Gunsch joined Berkshire from Citizens Bank in 2009 as First
VP, Retail Banking and was promoted to SVP in 2011. She reports to
Mr. Gray, and will be responsible for all aspects of the retail
banking consumer experience including branch operations and
consumer lending.
- Scott Houghtaling - Executive
Vice President, Regional Commercial Leader – New York. Mr. Houghtaling joined Berkshire as SVP, Commercial Leader NY in 2014
from RBC Citizens; he reports to Mr. Bacigalupo.
- Allison O'Rourke - Executive
Vice President, Investor Relations and Financial Institution
Banking. Ms. O'Rourke is currently SVP, Investor Relations Officer,
and joined the bank in 2013 from NYSE Euronext. She will report to
Mr. Daly and Mr. Marotta and is responsible for all aspects of
investor strategy and communications, and developing Berkshire's financial institution and
wholesale channels.
- Deborah Stephenson - Executive
Vice President, Compliance and Regulatory. Ms. Stephenson joined
Berkshire in 2014 as SVP Chief
Compliance Officer from Country Bank where she served as the
Executive Division Leader for retail banking, human resources and
training. She reports to Mr. Marotta and is responsible for all
aspects of the bank's regulatory compliance programs.
- Gary Urkevich - Executive Vice
President, IT and Project Management. Mr. Urkevich joined the Bank
in 2011 as VP, Corporate Initiatives from SABIC Innovative Plastics
and was promoted in 2013 to SVP, Information Systems and
Technology. He reports to Mr. Marotta and is responsible for
maintaining and enhancing the IT infrastructure of the bank along
with Six Sigma and strategic initiatives run through project
management.
Mr. Marotta, Mr. Gray and Ms. Iannelli have also been named
Senior Executive Vice Presidents of the Company. All
promotions are effective immediately.
BACKGROUND
Berkshire Hills Bancorp is the parent of Berkshire Bank –
America's Most Exciting Bank®. The Company has over
$7.5 billion in assets and 93
full-service branch offices in Massachusetts, New
York, Connecticut, and
Vermont providing personal and
business banking, insurance, and wealth management services.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This document contains 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.
CONTACTS
Investor Relations Contact
Allison O'Rourke; EVP, Investor
Relations Officer; 413-236-3149
Media Contact
Elizabeth Mach; First Vice
President, Marketing; 413-445-8390
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SOURCE Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc.