All Proposals Approved by Shareholders;
Company Highlights Strength & Progress
BOSTON, May 19, 2023
/PRNewswire/ -- Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: BHLB),
announced today that all four proposals were approved at its Annual
Meeting of Shareholders on May 18,
2023, with a quorum of approximately 93% of
outstanding shares voted in person or by proxy at the
meeting. All measures were unanimously recommended by the
Board. All measures requesting shareholder approval received
at least 97% support.
- Shareholders voted to approve the election of all twelve
director nominees to serve a one-year term:
David M. Brunelle
(Chairperson)
|
William H. Hughes
III
|
Laurie Norton
Moffatt
|
Baye Adofo-Wilson,
Esq.
|
Jeffrey W.
Kip
|
Karyn Polito
|
Nina A.
Charnley
|
Dr. Sylvia
Maxfield
|
Eric S.
Rosengren
|
Dr. Mihir A.
Desai
|
Nitin Mhatre (Berkshire
CEO)
|
Michael A.
Zaitzeff
|
Shareholders further provided advisory votes, ratification and
guidance as follows:
- Executive compensation practices were approved;
- Ratification of the appointment of Crowe LLP as the Company's
independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal year 2023
was approved; and
- The "one year" option was selected for the frequency of future
"say-on-pay" advisory votes on executive compensation.
The Company's proxy materials highlighted Berkshire's financial progress and
outperformance of comparative stock indices for the last two years,
its highly ranked Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
programs as well as the experience and diversity of the board. The
board reflects two thirds gender and ethnic diversity including 33%
(4/12) women and 33% (4 ⁄12) ethnic minorities.
During the meeting CEO Nitin
Mhatre thanked the board members for their resolute
commitment to strong governance. He also recognized retiring
directors John B. Davies and
Jonathan I. Shulman for their
significant contributions to the Company.
"We believe that institutions such as ours
play a vital role in our communities. No other bank can serve our
customers and communities as well as Berkshire. We remain focused on our role in
providing robust financial solutions to our customers while
maintaining a disciplined credit posture, reflected by our
diversified customer base and above-average credit quality."
- CEO Nitin Mhatre
Berkshire reported progress in
its first quarter results building on the improvements it made in
2022 through its Berkshire's
Exciting Strategic Transformation or BEST program. Berkshire's financial strength was recently
reaffirmed with an A3 deposit rating by Moody's Investors Service,
and ratings were also affirmed without change by the KBRA rating
service.
"Despite the uncertainty in the broader economic environment,
the steadfast commitment of our bankers to provide exceptional
service to our customers continues to inspire me every day. We're
pleased with the ongoing support we continue to receive from our
customers and for the new business opportunities that are emerging
from the current market disruption. Together, our steady execution
of our BEST plan and these emerging opportunities will help us
drive long term, profitable and responsible growth for our
stakeholders," concluded Mhatre.
ABOUT BERKSHIRE HILLS
BANCORP
Headquartered in Boston, Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE: BHLB)
is the parent of Berkshire Bank. Founded in 1846, the Bank's
vision is to be a high-performing leading socially responsible
community bank. It empowers the financial potential of its
stakeholders by making banking available where, when, and how it's
needed through an uncompromising focus on exceptional customer
service, digital banking, and positive community impact. Providing
a wide range of financial solutions through its consumer banking,
commercial banking and wealth management divisions, the Bank has
approximately $12.3 billion in assets
and a community-based footprint of 100 financial centers in
Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Named one of America's Most
Trusted Companies by Newsweek and America's Best Midsize
Employers by Forbes, Berkshire is also listed in the Bloomberg
Gender-Equality Index and a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality.
To learn more, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and
LinkedIn.
Investor
Contact
Kevin Conn
Investor
Relations
617.641.9206
KAConn@berkshirebank.com
|
Media
Contact
Gary Levante
Corporate
Communications
413.447-1737
glevante@berkshirebank.com
|
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/berkshire-hills-announces-results-of-annual-meeting-301829581.html
SOURCE Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc.