After more than 40 years, former CEO Jim Smith retired from Webster Bank at the end of last year. But the Dartmouth graduate is already on to his next career.

Multiple media outlets have reported that Smith, who recently co-chaired a state-sanctioned commission that proposed vast changes to Connecticut’s tax and economic policies, will pursue a gubernatorial run.

“My work with the commission reinforced for me the depth and breadth of challenges Connecticut faces, and we developed recommendations to achieve balanced budgets and sustainable growth,” Smith said in an email to the Hartford Business Journal. “I believe to my core that I would bring to the governor’s office the experience, leadership skills and commitment needed to work with the legislature to bring about the changes needed to put our state government and economy back on solid footing, and ensure a prosperous future for everyone who calls our wonderful state home.”

Smith told HBJ he has been consulting with family and friends and will announce a decision soon. But The Waterbury Observer reported yesterday it has confirmed Smith’s run.

Smith had contemplated a run last fall, but instead joined the Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth, an independent commission created of business executives that sought to address the state’s budget woes.

Smith would run as a Republican joining a crowded field of candidates, including other business executives such as Oz Griebel, the former CEO of the MetroHartford Alliance, who is running as an independent.