In the United States, over 1,000 banks have merged in the past five years, and the trend will continue. Bank merger activity has been steadily increasing in New England over the past several years. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, 43 mergers were announced - JUST in the period of 1/1/2021 – 4/19/2021.  Please join the RMA New England Chapter as we examine recent and future bank mergers in the New England region.  Our speakers will address this timely topic from various viewpoints:

• Drivers to buy/sell; identifying a target; merger v. acquisition  
• The mechanics of systems integration in merging two banks
• The particular human resource challenges in merging two staffs with different cultures

This will be a highly interactive discussion.  Please submit your questions for the panel during your registration process!
 
Our Panelists:

Patrick Sullivan, MA President of People’s United Bank

Patrick J. Sullivan heads People's United Bank in Massachusetts. He is responsible for the strategic development of all commercial and business lines, retail banking, wealth management and insurance across the state. Sullivan has served in a number of executive positions, spanning 35 years throughout New England. He has been President and CEO of the Howard Bank, Burlington VT, and Legacy Bank, Pittsfield MA. At Sovereign Bank, he held the dual role of President of the New England division and Managing Director of Corporate Banking throughout the Bank's footprint.

Sullivan has actively participated in community development throughout his career. Currently, he is a Director of The Boston Chamber of Commerce, The Massachusetts Business Roundtable, and Massachusetts Business Development Corp, where he serves as chairman. In addition, his current professional associations include the Turnaround Management Association, Commercial Finance Association, Massachusetts High Technology Council, Smaller Business Association of New England, Hundred Club of Massachusetts, and Massachusetts Bankers Association.

Sullivan earned both his Bachelor's and Master's in business administration at Bryant University, and he is a graduate of the Executive Management Program at the Amos Tuck School of Dartmouth College.

David O’Brien, Deputy Chief Risk Officer, SVP, Rockland Trust

David O’Brien is SVP and Deputy Chief Risk Officer at Rockland Trust where he is responsible for enterprise-wide risk management to promote a risk aware culture by establishing, building and maturing the Bank’s enterprise risk management framework for monitoring, managing and reporting adherence to its risk appetite in relation to its strategic objectives. From 2001-2019 he was Senior Portfolio Risk Officer/Portfolio Risk Manager.

David received his Bachelor of Science – Business Administration at Saint Michael's College and Masters of Business Administration – Finance Concentration at Bentley University. He also received Chief Risk Officer Certification from Carnegie Mellon University Heinz College. He lives with his wife and two sons.

Dee Sendrowski, SVP, Human Resources Director, Fidelity Bank

Dee Sendrowski has led the Human Resources function for Fidelity Bank since 2013. In this time, the Bank has doubled its assets and the number of banking center locations, aided by the successful execution of three mergers in the last four years. Currently, Ms. Sendrowski directs the core human resources functions as well as the Bank’s Learning and Development area, ensuring that the Bank’s talent is both aligned with its strategic direction and positioned to capitalize on innovative business opportunities.

Prior to joining Fidelity Bank, Ms. Sendrowski held roles as the Human Resources Director for Lin Media, a television and multimedia firm delivering news and content across the United States; Human Resources Business Partner for The Hanover Insurance Group; and the Director of Human Resources for Courion Corporation.

Outside of her professional endeavors, Ms. Sendrowski exercises her passion for dogs as a member and current show chairperson for the Labrador Retriever Club of Greater Boston, and former board member of both Baypath Humane Society and NEADS Inc.

Our Moderator:

Paul Flynn Jr., President, BDC Capital Corp

Paul Flynn is President and CEO of BDC Capital and New England Certified Development Corp., the company’s SBA 504 lending affiliate.  Mr. Flynn’s role includes strategic development and oversight of both internal operations and new business development throughout New England. His experience includes over 25 years of lending to the New England business community.

Prior to joining BDC Capital, Mr. Flynn served as Regional Leader and SVP ABL Dept. Manager & Commercial Lending at Berkshire Bank, ABL Department Manager of TD Bank, and Senior Vice President of Banknorth.  Mr. Flynn began his banking career at BayBank in 1986. He received his undergraduate degree from Fairfield University and an MBA from Babson College.

Mr. Flynn is a member of the National Commercial Finance Association and the Association for Corporate Growth, and is a Past President of the Turnaround Management Association’s Northeast Chapter.

Zoom information:

When: September 30, 2021 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Bank Mergers: An Acceleration in 2021?

For more information contact:
Julie Conroy, RMA Administrator
Julie@rmanewengland.org