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Kevin Day
Kevin Day, Florence Bank’s president and CEO, plans to retire in November, less than three years after taking over leadership of the bank.
Florence Bank said in a statement that Day will retire on Nov. 25, and a search is underway for a new leader. Day became president in January 2020 and then became CEO in May following the retirement of longtime leader John Heaps Jr.
“When Day took the helm at age 64, he promised that nothing would change at the bank,” the bank said in the statement. “Little did he know, he’d be called upon to usher Florence Bank through some of the most tumultuous times in history, including a pandemic and the financial strife that brought to hundreds of customers.”
Day joined Florence Bank in 2008 as chief financial officer, and his responsibilities expanded to include compliance in 2013, residential lending in 2014 and retail banking in 2016. He was promoted to executive vice president in 2016, the statement said.
Day led the bank in ensuring that homeowners and businesses could defer their payments during the pandemic, the bank said, and in helping business customers connect to grants and other available funding.
The bank also expanded during Day’s tenure by opening a branch in Chicopee, created a work-from-home program for employees and granted hundreds of thousands of dollars to nonprofit organizations in the Pioneer Valley, the bank said.
Day said he takes pride in the bank’s stability and shares credit for that with the full banking team.
“Our goal in this transition is to identify an individual to lead the bank into the future while preserving the values and mission of the past that have proven so successful here,” Day said in the statement. “I am proud to say that Florence Bank is fundamentally sound in every way. We have an experienced executive management team, a solid officer team and a dedicated staff. I am confident that the bank will continue to prosper for many years to come.”
The Florence Bank’s board of directors has launched a search for its next leader.
“We plan to be thorough in our work and have as a major part of our mission seeking to hire an individual who is as committed to the bank’s mutual form of ownership as we are,” Board Chair John Ebbets said in the statement. “We can ensure the community that Florence Bank will remain a local, independent bank for years to come.”
