Pittsfield-based Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. is expanding its commercial banking business in Eastern Massachusetts and has recruited an experienced commercial banking team to service middle-market commercial and industrial businesses.
The team will be based at Berkshire’s Woburn commercial lending office.
Brant A. McDougall will head the team as senior vice president and commercial team leader. Joining McDougall’s team will be Christopher P. DeFronzo, John M. Malvey and Joanne R. Tercho as vice presidents and commercial relationship managers.
Also joining Berkshire Bank will be Carol Hamilton as a senior vice president, commercial relationship manager
McDougall has more than 30 years of experience in commercial banking. He previously served as a commercial team leader at TD Bank, with offices based in Burlington. Prior to that, he had commercial lending roles with GMAC Commercial Credit, GE Capital Commercial Finance and BayBank Inc. McDougall holds an M.B.A. from Northeastern University and a B.A. from Middlebury College.
DeFronzo had been with TD Bank for 12 years, most recently as vice president, commercial account manager; Malvey had more than 13 years of commercial banking experience with TD Bank, and Tercho had served with TD Bank for more than 15 years, most recently as vice president, commercial lending relationship manager.
Hamilton previously worked as a commercial senior relationship manager at TD Bank for more than10 years. Prior to that, she served in similar capacities at Citizens Bank and BayBanks Inc. She holds both an M.B.A. and B.A. from Boston University.
“We are pleased to welcome Brant McDougall and his team, as well as Carol Hamilton to Berkshire Bank,” Patrick J. Sullivan, executive vice president of commercial banking, said in a statement. “They work extremely well together in finding the right mix of commercial products and services to meet the financial needs of various types of businesses. Their collective experience will serve us well as we expand our commercial business lending in Eastern Massachusetts.”
Michael Daly, Berkshire’s chairman and CEO, added, “Berkshire continues to recruit top talent to serve businesses in our growing footprint based on our strong capabilities and responsive local focus. In recent months, we recruited commercial leadership in our Hartford and Syracuse markets. Now we are delighted to bring on these respected lenders as we add to the presence that we have established with our 10 commercial and residential lending offices in Central and Eastern Massachusetts. Our commercial business loans have more than doubled in the last two years and, we look forward to further strong growth as we make our resources available to serve the credit needs of our markets.”
