PeoplesBank CEO retiring at end of the year; succession plan announced

HOLYOKE — Tom Senecal will retire at the end of this year as chairman and CEO of PeoplesBank and PeoplesBancorp.

"I just feel it's the right time to allow a new generation to lead the bank in a direction that it needs to in order to compete with an ever-changing landscape," Senecal said.

Holyoke-based PeoplesBank bank has grown from $450 million in assets when Senecal joined in 1995 to $1.8 billion 10 years ago when he became CEO. Today, the bank's holding company, PeoplesBancorp, has $7 billion in assets, counting both PeoplesBank headquarters in Holyoke and Worcester-based Cornerstone Bank.

Cornerstone and PeoplesBank merged in January. That followed the 2018 purchase of The First National Bank of Suffield, Connecticut, for $60 million.

Todd Tallman will be CEO of PeoplesBank and its holding company with the retirement of Tom Senecal. Tallman also will remain CEO of Cornerstone Bank.provided

A third acquisition — the merger of Athol Savings Bank into Cornerstone Bank — is pending, according to a statement.

PeoplesBank also announced a succession plan. The holding company's CEO role will be filled by Todd Tallman, who also will remain CEO of Cornerstone Bank.

Brian Canina will remain president of PeoplesBank and become president of PeoplesBancorp MHC.

Daniel Zona, president of Athol Savings Bank, will become the president of Cornerstone Bank once the merger of Athol Savings Bank into Cornerstone Bank is completed.

Tallman said he and Senecal had been talking for years about ways to grow into a large enough bank to afford the technology customers demand today.

"It's an expensive business," Tallman said in an interview. "Banking is an expensive business."

Senecal added: "I tell people we are a technology company, not a banking company. It seems like everything we do is technology."

PeoplesBank recently upgraded its platform from one it'd been using for 40 years.

During Senecal's tenure, PeoplesBank opened six new offices in Massachusetts and Connecticut, launched a national digital bank, had record-setting corporate charitable contributions, and most recently, secured the naming rights for the PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Connecticut.

Tallman praised Senecal for the naming rights deal, saying it's an important step for PeoplesBank as it works to grow in Connecticut.

"It's an area without a lot of banks," he said. "And the banks that are there are very large. There aren't a lot of competitors our size."

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data shows PeoplesBank leads Greater Springfield in deposit market share. With $2.6 billion in deposits, it has 19% of the market here .