In the photo, left to right: Glenn MacInnes, CFO; Joe Savage, Executive Vice Chairman; Sumakshi Vali, Region Manager, Community Banking; Bill Lionhood, Market Manager; Nitin Mhatre, Executive Vice President, Community Banking; David Miree, Executive Vice President, Director of Consumer Deposits and WIS; Jim Smith, Chairman and CEO; John Ciulla, President; Dawn Morris, Chief Marketing Officer.

Webster Bank officially cut the ribbon at all 17 of its new Boston locations yesterday morning.

Speaking before a small crowd at the bank’s Harvard Square location, Chairman and CEO James C. Smith joked, “I’m getting a little nervous because already six or seven Webster bankers have told me that they’re moving to Boston, including my own executive assistant!”

The Waterbury, Connecticut-headquartered bank has had an office in Boston’s Financial District since 2009 and has had its eye on achieving a critical mass in the Greater Boston area ever since, Smith said yesterday. Last fall, when Citibank exited the Boston market, Webster snapped up the 17 branches Citi exited along with 80 percent of the bankers working for Citi in the Boston area, he noted.

“They closed on a Saturday and we opened on a Monday and nothing went dark,” Smith said. “Their exit gave us the opportunity to spring full blown into this market.”