BOSTON, Feb. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Berkshire
Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: BHLB) today announced that its Board of
Directors has appointed Dr. Sylvia
Maxfield and Jonathan I.
Shulman as new independent directors. These appointments
expand the Company's Board to 15 Directors, 12 of whom are
independent. The Board has determined that Dr. Maxfield and Mr.
Shulman are qualified financial experts, and both will serve on the
Board's Audit Committee and Risk Management and Capital
Committee. These new Board members strengthen Berkshire's governance and support its
strategic vision of purpose driven performance for all
stakeholders. Dr. Maxfield and Mr. Shulman were also appointed to
the Board of Directors of Berkshire Bank.
Sylvia Maxfield is
currently the Dean of the Providence
College School of Business and was previously Chairman of
the Faculty and MBA Program Director at Simmons University in
Boston. Additionally, she serves as voting member of the
Rhode Island State Investment Commission, where she oversees fund
performance, including asset allocation and all investment-related
contracting. Maxfield also votes on shareholder proxy activity on
behalf of the State. Previously, she has served on the boards
of the Greater Providence Chamber
of Commerce, Social Enterprise Greenhouse and the 21st Century
Fund. She earned her B.A. in government and economics from
Cornell University, and her Ph.D. in
political economy from Harvard
University.
Jonathan I.
Shulman previously served as Executive Vice
President & Treasurer at KeyCorp, a publicly traded U.S. bank.
Shulman possesses deep commercial banking experience that includes
financial markets, governance, and balance sheet and risk
management disciplines. He began his career with KeyCorp in
1989 and served in leadership roles in financial market strategy,
asset liability management, wholesale funding and capital planning.
Shulman has also held committee membership positions on KeyCorp's
Asset Liability Committee, Market Risk Committee, Model Risk
Committee and Funds Transfer Pricing Committee.
"We are pleased to welcome these important additions to our
Board," said Chairman J. Williar
Dunlaevy. "Sylvia and Jon bring tremendous experience with
their backgrounds in economics, asset management and commercial
banking, and they will provide valuable perspective to our Audit
Committee and Risk Management and Capital Committee.
Additionally, our acquisition of SI Financial Group gives us a
presence in Rhode Island, so we
are pleased to add a director who is active in that market."
"Our new members will bolster the expertise on our committees
and strengthen our corporate governance," added President and CEO,
Richard M. Marotta. "They add to our
Board's diversity and resources to support our vision for building
a 21st century community bank. I look forward to
working with Sylvia and Jon as we continue to evolve our company
with a focus on purpose driven performance."
BACKGROUND
Berkshire Hills Bancorp is the parent of Berkshire Bank which is
transforming into a 21st century community bank pursuing
purpose driven performance based on its Be FIRST corporate
responsibility culture. Headquartered in Boston, Berkshire operates 130 banking offices in
seven Northeastern states, with approximately $13.2 billion in assets.
CONTACTS
Investor Relations Contact
David Gonci; Capital Markets
Director; 413-281-1973
Media Contact
Diana Pisciotta; Communications
Contact; 617-784-5256
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SOURCE Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc.