Berkshire Bank Appoints Farrell To Executive Team

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Former Berkshire Hills Bancorp Director Brings More Than 30 Years of Experience

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NASDAQ: BHLB) and its banking subsidiary, Berkshire Bank, has appointed former Board Director David B. Farrell to Executive Vice President, Integrated Services.

Farrell will be responsible for the company’s insurance and wealth management business lines, and their integration with the company’s other products and service offerings. These lines together produced 18 percent of the company’s total revenues in 2008, and Berkshire is actively pursuing expansion of these and related services through acquisitions and organic growth throughout its footprint. 

Farrell has extensive experience with Berkshire and a deep understanding of the company’s business. He has been a director of Berkshire Hills Bancorp since 2005 and also, a consultant who assisted with brand integration and expansion strategies for these business lines. In conjunction with his appointment as Executive Vice President, Mr. Farrell has resigned from his position as a director of the Company and Berkshire Bank.

“Dave Farrell has served Berkshire well as a director and most recently as a consultant. He has tremendous experience in building and managing sales and service cultures,” said Daly. “Berkshire has a great opportunity to develop our integrated financial service lines in our expanding regional markets, and to identify acquisition opportunities to further build market share. We look forward to Dave’s contribution in this new role with our executive team”

Farrell was previously a Division President with TJX Companies. Prior to that he was EVP and CFO of KB Toys, a division of the former Melville Corporation now known as CVS/Caremark. A longtime Berkshire County resident with deep ties to the community, Farrell resides in Sheffield with his wife Mary and two teenagers, Molly and Jake.

Background

Berkshire Hills Bancorp is headquartered in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It has approximately $2.7 billion in assets and is the parent of Berkshire Bank - America's Most Exciting BankSM.  Berkshire provides personal and business banking, insurance, wealth management, and investment services through 48 banking and insurance financial centers in western Massachusetts, northeastern New York, and southern Vermont. Berkshire Bank also offers the added benefit of providing its depositors 100 percent insurance protection, regardless of amount, based on a combination of FDIC insurance and the Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF). For more information, visit www.berkshirebank.com or call 800-773-5601.
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Former Harry's Supermarket Under Construction for Restaurant

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Construction is underway to transform the former Harry's Supermarket into a restaurant

Late last month, the Conservation Commission greenlit some tree pruning on the property. New windows and a new door can be seen in the front of the building. 

"It's a substantial renovation that's currently underway here," Brent White of White Engineering said, speaking on behalf of the applicant and owner, Huajie Zhu. 

A fire gutted the longtime Wahconah Street supermarket in 2023, and the following year, Zhu purchased the property for $460,000 two years ago to build a restaurant with hibachi in the existing footprint of the more than 100-year-old building. 

White explained that the project has been ongoing for over a year, and the Community Development Board granted the property a waiver to reduce the minimum required number of parking spaces so that additional spaces aren't needed.  

He noted that, looking at the site plan, there is very little room to do so. A mirror will be installed near the sharp turn on Bel Air Avenue to alleviate traffic concerns. 

Pruning will be done on trees in the southeast corner of the existing paved parking lot, as a number of branches are hanging over. The new owners also intend to patch, sealcoat, and re-stripe the parking lot. 

A fire tore through the building less than an hour after the supermarket closed for the day three years ago. An automatic sprinkler system is required for the new use. 

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