Mountainone Holds Annual Meeting
 Photo by Howie Levitz/Photoworks
From left to right: Robert Fraser, President & CEO of South Coastal Bank, Richard Lamb, President & CEO of TrueNorth, Stephen Crowe, President & CEO of MountainOne Financial Partners, John Law, President & CEO of Williamstown Savings Bank and Donald Keagan, President & CEO of Hoosac Bank. |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — MountainOne Financial Partners, MHC, held its eighth Annual Meeting on April 26, 2010 at the Williams Inn in Williamstown. MountainOne Financial Partners is an affiliation between Hoosac Bank; Williamstown Savings Bank; South Coastal Bank; Coakley, Pierpan, Dolan & Collins; and True North.
Elections
During the meeting, Rick Bullett, James Bailey, Jr. and Stephen Klass were elected Trustees of MountainOne Financial Partners.
Bullett retired from Northern Berkshire Healthcare in 2003 and has been a Senior Partner in the Linden Consulting Group since then. He has more than 35 years of experience in the human resources field. In addition to his trustee position, Bullet is on the board of directors and is the newly elected chairman of the board for both Hoosac Bank and Williamstown Savings Bank. He has been chair of the governance committee and a member of the compensation committee. Bullet is a graduate of Williams College and resides in North Adams with his wife, Deborah.
Bailey is a shareholder and principal of Needel, Welch & Stone, PC, in Rockland, and directs the Tax Department. He received his bachelor's degree from Holy Cross and master's degrees from Northeastern and Bentley. Bailey is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants. He also serves on the board of directors of South Coastal Bank, where he has been chair of the audit committee. He lives in Marshfield with his wife, Donna.
Klass has been vice president for Operations at Williams College since August 2006. Prior to his arrival at Williams, he worked at the University of Chicago for 11 years, most recently as Vice President and Dean of Students. Klass has been a corporator of MountainOne since 2007. He received a bachelor's degree with honors in philosophy and religious studies from Hobart College and a master's degree in higher education administration from the University of Rochester. He lives in Williamstown with his wife, Odette, and their son. They also have two older sons.
In addition to the MountainOne Board elections, Tom Leveque was elected to the position of director for both Hoosac Bank and Williamstown Savings Bank. He is the general manager of Girardi Distributors, based in Pittsfield and Athol. In the community, he is a chairperson of both the North Adams Conservation Commission and the North Adams Parks and Recreation Department. He is also very active in local youth sports. A North Adams native, Leveque resides there with his wife, Debbie, and their three children.
Newly elected corporators to 10-year terms include Rosine Afshar, Joseph Finnegan, and Kevin Hanley. Corporators re-elected to ten-year terms include Sean Barbera, Daniel Becker, Andrew Budz, Richard Bullett, Carol Colantuono, Ronald Durning, Jr., Rosemary Earley, Benjamin Glick, Jeffrey Grandchamp, Dean Grimes, Deborah Jackson-Zereski, K. Elaine Neeley, Robert Scerbo, Anthony Smeglin, Stephen Spigel, Suzanne Stinson, and David Westall. Re-elected to a three-year term was Robert Shalgian as trustee. Re-elected officers, serving one-year terms, include Daniel Bosley, chairman of the board; Stephen Crowe, president and chief executive officer; Donald Keagan, executive vice president and treasurer; John O'Connor III, executive vice president; and Kelli Kozak, clerk.
State law mandates that mutual savings bank corporators who are elected to 10-year terms must be depositors of the institution they serve, either at the time of their election or within 30 days thereafter. Their primary responsibilities include electing the company's trustees from the body of corporators and electing the president and other officers. They are also responsible for approving changes in the bylaws and corporate structure.
Board Retirees
John Holden is retiring after 21 years in high-profile leadership capacities. He also was a director for both Williamstown Savings Bank and Hoosac Bank, where he also held the position of chairman of the board for many years. For the Banks, he was chairman of the audit committee as well as a member of both the asset and liability committee and the credit committee. He also was a trustee for the MountainOne Financial Partners.
Maynard "Ken" Hodgdon is retiring after serving 17 years. His positions included Hoosac Bank Director, Williamstown Savings Bank Director, and MountainOne Trustee. He also was on the compensation and credit committees.
State Of The Economy
Stephen Crowe, president and chief executive officer of MountainOne, provided an overview of MountainOne progress and initiatives in 2009. Crowe stated that, during the year, MountainOne improved its balance sheet and strengthened its entire financial position. Crowe noted that, "We are well capitalized, loan loss reserves have been bolstered, and earnings are poised to improve." Crowe also presented the company's direction for 2010. A key element will be continuing to leverage the partner affiliation with a goal of providing comprehensive financial services to individuals and businesses for life.
Financial Report
Crowe also provided a financial overview of 2009, reporting that, as of December 31, 2009, combined assets were $855 million, deposits were $515 million, and loans grew to $488 million, representing a nearly 4 percent increase from the previous year. MountainOne also continues to maintain a very strong capital position.
Community Giving
The MountainOne companies continued their leadership role in community giving during 2009. Combined gifts to local community organizations were nearly $269,000. Williamstown Savings Bank's Community Dividend Program, which allows customers to help allocate a portion of the Bank's giving, continues to receive strong customer voting participation each year. And, the South Coastal Bank CARES program continues to provide grants to not-for-profit groups serving children.
Junior Board Of Directors
For the fourth year, members of the MountainOne Financial Partners Junior Board of Directors attended the annual meeting, where they were presented Certificates of Participation by Crowe. This year's junior board members, representing juniors and seniors from the five northern Berkshire high schools, included: Allie Perkins and Kim Bongiovanni from BArT, Matthew Dubie and Anuj Shah from Drury, Kyle Bayless and Kayla Bassonette from McCann, Ethan Harmon from Hoosac, and Monika Pandzic and Callie Carlson from Mt. Greylock.
MountainOne Financial Partners, headquartered in North Adams, has combined assets of over $850 million and approximately 200 employees. Hoosac Bank, Williamstown Savings Bank, and South Coastal Bank provide a broad range of banking services for personal and business customers. Hoosac Bank, established in 1848, has offices in North Adams and Williamstown; Williamstown Savings Bank, founded in 1892, has an office in Williamstown; and, South Coastal Bank, founded in 1868, has offices in Rockland, Braintree, Scituate, and Quincy. Coakley, Pierpan, Dolan & Collins Insurance Agency, founded in 1927, and one of the largest property and casualty insurance agencies in Western Massachusetts, serves personal and business customers through offices in North Adams, Adams, Williamstown, and Pittsfield. True North Financial Services, established in 1997, has offices in North Adams, Williamstown, and Pittsfield.
