WORCESTER – Michael P. Daly said he believes culture is probably the most important aspect of the long-term viability and profitability of any company.
Mr. Daly, CEO of Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc., the Pittsfield-based bank that last year bought the parent company of Worcester-based Commerce Bank, said Berkshire’s culture – which puts a premium on understanding and adjusting to the ways modern life has affected the work-life balance of its employees – is both good for people and good for business.
“There’s a difference in the mentality of workers today than 20 to 30 years ago,” Mr. Daly said Wednesday at the College of the Holy Cross before his scheduled address to the Worcester Economic Club’s 551st meeting. “I’m going to talk about why that’s not good or bad, it’s just different. The pressures are considerably more than they used to be.”
Berkshire announced its acquisition of Commerce, which has operated locally since 1955, last spring. Mr. Daly said picking up Commerce and its network of 19 branches in Central Massachusetts was a “chance to fill in the one hole we had between Boston and the rest of New England.”
Commerce Bank had about $2.2 billion in total assets, while at the time the transaction was announced Berkshire Hills had about $9.3 billion in assets and 97 branches in Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Source: Telegram.com