Bay State Savings Bank's new executive team poses for a photo outside the bank's headquarters in downtown Worcester. From left: Chief Financial Officerr Olufemi Elegbe, Chief Community Engagement Officer Diane Giampa, President and CEO Seth Pitts, Chief Risk Officer Courtney R.Y. Nuara, Chief Retail Banking Officer Tami M. Gunsch and Interim Chief Commercial Banking Officer Daniel J. Kelser. Photo courtesy of Bay State Savings Bank

Worcester-based community bank Bay State Savings Bank is looking to strengthen its operations and gear up for long-term growth aspirations by appointing five C-suite executives, some coming from big banks and financial institutions.

Seth A. Pitts, the bank’s new president and CEO, said the new leadership team is diverse which will guide Bay State Savings’ direction in connecting to the diverse communities not just in Worcester, but also in other areas across the whole state.

Pitts said the bank is still in the early stages of evaluating its growth areas and opportunities, but said Bay State Savings will be deploying more technologies to help the bank grow in the long term.

“When you look across the landscape, we are very fortunate to have real quality expertise and a real diverse makeup of people [in our executive team]. Anybody should feel comfortable knowing [the bank and its team], whether you want to bank with us someday or you want to be a banker someday,” Pitts said.

New to Bay State Savings, Chief Financial Officer Olufemi “Femi” Elegbe formerly held senior positions in Freddie Mac, Capital One and Citigroup.

The bank’s commercial and retail banking teams also have new leaders – Daniel J. Kelser as interim chief commercial banking officer, and newly-onboarded Tami M. Gunsch as chief retail banking officer.

Kelser joined the bank in May 2021 as a senior vice president and commercial loan officer while Gunsch was the former senior vice president and head of consumer banking at Berkshire Bank and president of Berkshire’s subsidiary First Choice Loan Services, Inc.

Courtney R.Y. Nuar, formerly of Workers Credit Union, is now Bay State’s chief risk officer.

Diane M. Giampa, who’s been with the bank for 25 years, is the new chief community engagement officer and president of Bay State Savings’ foundation.

“We have ambitious goals for growth,” William J. Fay II, Chair of the bank’s Board of Directors, said in a statement. “This leadership realignment will further position us to achieve our strategic priorities while continuing to provide great experiences for our customers.”