BOSTON, May 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Berkshire Hills
Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: BHLB), announced today the results of its
Annual Meeting of Shareholders on May 20,
2021, which included the election of Deborah P. Bailey and Michael A. Zaitzeff to the Company's Board of
Directors. Berkshire's meeting
materials also reported the Board's appointment of Director
David M. Brunelle as Vice
Chairperson of the Board. Mr. Brunelle has served for three years
on the Board, including as Audit Committee Chair since March 2019.
Shareholders further approved all proposals which were presented
at the meeting, including a non-binding, advisory vote to approve
the Company's executive compensation and the ratification of the
selection of Crowe LLP as the Company's independent registered
public accounting firm for fiscal year 2021. All director nominees
and other proposals received at least 96% of the votes cast, and
91% of outstanding shares eligible to vote were represented at the
meeting.
"After a thoughtful and comprehensive process, we look forward
to welcoming Deborah and Michael to our Board," said Nitin Mhatre, CEO of Berkshire Hills Bancorp and
Berkshire Bank. "Both Deborah and Michael will bring valuable new
perspectives and independent expertise to the Board. I look forward
to collaborating with them as we advance Berkshire's strategic transformation plan to
improve financial performance and support our positioning as the
leading socially responsible and omni-channel Bank in the
communities we serve." Named Berkshire's Exciting Strategic
Transformation ("BEST"), this plan was launched at a virtual
investor presentation on May 18, 2021
and may be viewed at ir.berkshirebank.com.
Mr. Mhatre added, "On behalf of the Board and the Company's many
stakeholders, I would also like to thank and express our deep
appreciation to Cornelius D. (Neil)
Mahoney and D. Jeffrey (Jeff)
Templeton, who did not stand for reelection and have retired
after 15 years on our Board, for their long-standing commitment,
service and dedication to Berkshire."
Deborah
P. Bailey
Deborah
Bailey is a Governor of the Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority (FINRA). Previously she was Managing Director of the
Financial Regulatory Practice at KPMG and Vice Chair and Managing
Director of the Banking & Securities Regulatory Practice at
Deloitte & Touche LLP. She previously was an officer of the
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, rising to Deputy
Director of Banking Supervision and Regulation where she was a
direct report to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. She started her career at the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, where she attained the
position of Field Office Director for New
York and New Jersey,
managing the largest field office in the country, and where she
headed a Task Force that led to restructuring of the regional field
offices and creation of the Large Bank Supervision Program. Ms.
Bailey is a graduate of the University of
Georgia with a BBA in Banking and Finance.
Michael
(Misha) A. Zaitzeff
Misha
Zaitzeff is a co-founder and managing member of VM GP II
LLC, the general partner of HoldCo Asset Management, LP. Mr.
Zaitzeff has served as a member of numerous corporate boards,
oversight committees and creditor committees. Mr. Zaitzeff served
on the Trust Advisory Board of WMI Liquidating Trust, a trust
created to implement the Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Plan of Washington
Mutual, Inc. Mr. Zaitzeff holds a Bachelor of Arts in Computer
Science from Brown University.
David
M. Brunelle
David
Brunelle is Co-Founder and Managing Director of North Pointe
Wealth Management in Worcester,
Massachusetts. He has over 20 years of experience in
financial services working with businesses, individuals, families
and charitable foundations. Mr. Brunelle is a former Director of
Commerce Bancshares Corp. and Commerce Bank & Trust Company and
served on Commerce's audit and loan committees. He has also served
as trustee or corporator for numerous non-profit entities in and
around Worcester, including The
Nativity School of Worcester, The
Worcester Regional Research Bureau, The Worcester Educational
Development Foundation, the UMass/Memorial Foundation, Becker College and the Greater Worcester Community
Foundation.
ABOUT BERKSHIRE HILLS
BANCORP
Headquartered in Boston, Berkshire Hills Bancorp is the parent
of Berkshire Bank, which operates 118 banking offices primarily in
New England and New York. The Bank is transforming what it
means to bank its neighbors socially, humanly and digitally to
empower the financial potential of people, families and businesses
in its communities as it pursues its vision of being the leading
socially responsible omni-channel community bank in the markets it
serves.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This document contains
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of section 27A of
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. You can identify these
statements from the use of the words "may," "will," "should,"
"could," "would," "plan," "potential," "estimate," "project,"
"believe," "intend," "anticipate," "expect," "target" and similar
expressions. There are many 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.
Investor Relations Contacts:
Kevin Conn, SVP, Investor
Relations & Corporate Development
Email: KAConn@berkshirebank.com
Tel: (617) 641-9206
David Gonci, Capital Markets
Director
Email: DGonci@berkshirebank.com
Tel: (413) 281-1973
Media Contact:
John
Lovallo
Email: jlovallo@levick.com
Tel: (917) 612-8419
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SOURCE Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc.