From left: Joseph De Vito, Kenneth Brennan, and Thomas Keery. Photo Courtesy of The Village Bank Photo Courtesy of The Village Bank
Joseph De Vito, Thomas Keery, and Kenneth Brennan
President, Board Chair, Former Board Chair, The Village Bank
Industry experience: 26 years, 8 years and 40 years
The Village Bank recently announced that Kenneth Brennan will retire from his role as board chair, with current board member Thomas Keery stepping into the role in January 2025. Brennan spent 10 years as board chair and 23 years as president and CEO, and will remain a member of the board.
“This is a bittersweet announcement. The Village Bank is very special to me, and I am proud of what we have become, our reputation in the community, and the service we provide our customers,” Brennan said. “We could not have a better, more qualified choice for Chair than Mr. Keery. This transition will foster new energy and leadership in the Chair role and allow me to focus more on my family and wellness in the years ahead.”
Keery has been on the board of the Newton-based bank since 2016, developing deep relationships with its directors, senior leadership team, staff and customers. Current President and CEO Joseph De Vito has worked in this capacity since Brennan transitioned to board chair in 2014.
Q: Can you walk me through Kenneth Brennen’s decision to retire, what the appointment process was like for Thomas Keery and how he feels stepping in as board chair?
Brennan: It was just for me, the ability to spend more time with my family, concentrate on my health a little bit. I’ve had a few health issues, so it was more about me. Personally, after 40 years, I think I’ve left the bank in great shape and I don’t believe it’s going to be a very difficult transition at all. I think we’re in very good shape. I’m excited for Tom and Joseph and where the bank’s going in the future. I sat down first with Joseph and then the board of directors following that, and we asked the Governance Committee to take on the process of looking through or talking to all of the members of the existing Board of Directors, what they like, what they don’t like, looking for their interest in possibly serving as the next chair and we did complete that process over the summer and we met again back in September, formally. There were two individuals that were from the existing board that were very interested, both qualified, and so we had a board session. We heard from both of them. They both made presentations to the board, and then the board took a vote to elect the next chairman.
De Vito: It’s been a very collaborative process. We’ve been fortunate – the board, myself, the management team, all are in sync about who we are and what we’re doing as a mutual cooperative bank and about staying that way. First and foremost, we’ve been that way for 114, years, and the plan is to stay that way for the next 114 years. We work really well together. We meet on a monthly basis to go over what’s happening in the bank, and that gives us an opportunity to stay connected, be on the same page for all that we’re doing and all that we want to do.
Keery: It’s a challenge, but it’s one that I think our board is really embracing and up to terms of differences. One of the first things I learned when I got on the board from our chairman, Mr. Brennan, was to make sure we have a distinction between being a board and running the bank. Staying out of the weeds has been something that the chairman has been very firm on and clear on, and I intend to do my best to uphold that. Mr. Brennan, as you may know, is staying on the board, so I’m sure he’ll give me the signal when we might be heading in the wrong direction in terms of the future.
It’s just an incredible time to be in the banking business. There are so many challenges, so much ahead of us in terms of regulation, as we get bigger in size. When you look at so many industries who have consolidated and continue to consolidate, the banking industry is one of those. So strategic planning, it used to be a five-year look, now I think it has to be a six-month look. Things change so fast.
Q: When you go from strategic planning years out to now planning to less than a year out, what kinds of things change about your process? Overall, how does that strategic planning change with a shorter time frame?
De Vito: For us, it’s critical. It’s something that we’ve committed to for a long, long time, and we continue to commit to that, as Tom mentioned, on an annual basis. Then from a dynamic perspective, talking about that regularly throughout the year, and how the plan is going, where we are, what the future holds. It’s critical to us and our ongoing success. As we’ve said, we have been able to focus long term, but still on the short term as well, because things change so quickly. It’s a dynamic process for us and knowing that we want to continue to be a mutual, that’s our North Star, if you will.
Brennan: The economic world we live in today forces us to be more strategic and to look more closely constantly throughout the year. Things really changed so fast. One of the great things that we have as a mutual institution is the ability to look long-term, and we will always continue to do that but without jeopardizing the short term. So, we can act very quickly and we can react to the marketplace if we need to. But most importantly, we can take a longer view, because we don’t have these stockholders that we need to create this constant dividend for.
Keery: I would just add that there’s no end to technologies being thrust upon the consumer, and once you get a taste of it, you want it – you expect it. Our ability to continue adopting new ways of doing business with our customers, opening accounts online, applying for loans online, and then on the other side, protecting the customer with our ability to deter the bad guys. Personally, I’ve had a situation recently where I had checks taken out of mailboxes and I got a call from our fraud department – not because I’m the incoming chair, but because I’m a customer. The systems we have in place were sharp enough to detect this fraudulent check and save the bank and me the money that would have gone out the door. So, staying ahead on both sides of the equation, internally and externally, continues to be important, and more so with technology pushing it.
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