United Bank Announces Organizational Restructuring; Appoints Brandon Lorey as Head of Consumer Strategy

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Apr 22, 2015, 04:10 ET

GLASTONBURY, Conn., April 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- William H.W. Crawford, IV, Chief Executive Officer of United Financial Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: UBNK) and United Bank of Glastonbury, Conn., today announced an organizational restructuring and the creation of a new executive position called the Head of Consumer Strategy who will be tasked with positioning the Bank to deliver an unparalleled banking experience for all consumer and small business banking customers.

Over the past four years, particularly after the transformational merger between United Bank and Rockville Bank in 2014, United evolved into a $5.5 billion bank with more than three times as many employees, double the number of branches, significantly expanded footprint in two states and community banking teams covering markets throughout Connecticut and Massachusetts.

United Bank is now four-times the size it once was with a vision for continued growth. As a result, Crawford and Marino J. Santarelli, Executive Vice President (EVP) and Chief Operating Officer (COO), recognized the need to strategically divide responsibilities given the size, capacity and complexity of the new United Bank. Crawford and his team made a similar decision in February 2014 when they split the roles of credit administration and commercial lending in their commercial banking division by appointing a Chief Credit Officer and hiring a Head of Wholesale Banking.

Given the growth of the Company since 2011 and the need to more effectively organize responsibilities to enable the Bank to continue to grow, Santarelli and Crawford crafted the following strategic organizational restructuring that will be effective July 1, 2015:

As EVP and COO reporting to Crawford, Santarelli will continue to oversee Information Technology (IT), Payment Operations, Project Management, Facilities and Branch Operations/Branch Review. He will also lead the United team in handling all M&A integration and managing the Bank's vendor relationship with their core data processor as well as other business partners.
Brandon C. Lorey, EVP and Head of Consumer Lending, will fill the new position of Head of Consumer Strategy where he will oversee United's retail branch network, Contact Center, Virtual Banking, Loan Servicing and United Northeast Financial Advisors, the Bank's financial advisory team. He will also be responsible for leading the Bank's initiative to create a Small Business Center. These responsibilities will be in addition to his current duties of managing Consumer Lending, Mortgage Banking and Loan Servicing.

Crawford credits Santarelli for building United's retail banking model; effectively guiding them through the United Bank-Rockville Bank merger last year; playing a key role in recruiting and retaining top bankers to join the United Team; positioning the Bank to be compliant with the Community Reinvestment Act; and several other significant accomplishments at United.

Lorey, as Head of Consumer Strategy, will be tasked with helping United become a world class sales and service organization in both consumer and small business banking. This means enhancing the Bank's ability to deliver an exceptional banking experience for all customers whether they bank with United in the branches, virtually through online and mobile banking channels or over-the-phone and by email with the Bank's Contact Center professionals.

Over the last two years at United, Lorey and his lending team have been incredibly successful at growing United's consumer lending and mortgage banking line of business; establishing a team of 37 high-performing, customer-focused loan officers; securing record residential mortgage originations; building a robust pipeline of loans; launching the Bank's first-ever credit card; along with many other achievements.

"This strategic organizational restructuring is another example of how the structure of our Bank supports our vision to pursue excellence in all things with respect to our customers, employees, shareholders and the communities we serve," said Crawford. "The fact is we are now a much different bank given the size, capacity and complexity from when I recruited Marino to come to United in 2011. It's been a historic and successful evolution ever since and dividing up responsibilities between two great bankers like Marino and Brandon is the right decision at the right time."

The transition of responsibilities between Santarelli and Lorey is currently underway. Starting July 1, 2015, Lorey will begin reporting directly to Crawford.

About United Bank:
On April 30, 2014, United Bank (established in 1882) and Rockville Bank (established 1858) completed a transformational merger of equals by bringing together two financially strong, independent-minded institutions to create the premier community bank in New England with more than 50 branches in two states and $5.5 billion in assets. The new United Bank is a state chartered bank headquartered in Glastonbury Conn. with regional offices throughout Connecticut and Massachusetts. For more information on United Bank, please visit www.bankatunited.com.

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