As soon as it closed its acquisition of the Connecticut Bank & Trust Co. (CBT), Berkshire Hills Bancorp began pursuing Geno Auriemma.

CCBA is committed to encouraging the continuous improvement of safe and sound business principles and practices for its members to help them better serve the families and small businesses in their communities. We do this, in large part, by providing a forum in which bankers and our industry partners can develop and exchange ideas and experience. Bankers gain firsthand knowledge of the latest news, innovation and services impacting our industry, while our industry partners also gain direct access to the decision-makers in our institutions.

It probably comes as no surprise that vendor management is not going away.

A perfect storm of change is disrupting the way we pay for goods and services and manage our financial information, transforming commerce and raising consumer expectations.

What does it mean that more smartphones than PCs were shipped in North America last year? That Internet banking increased by more than 25 percent over the last five years, but branch and ATM transactions grew by less than 10 percent over the same period? That Charles Schwab now offers a Smart Phone app to trade stocks?

While big banks may not have easily weathered the financial crisis, many community banks were and continue to be robustly healthy, and are looking to grow.

Are you marketing your bank\’s programs and services by the old standard or the gold standard?

The JOBS Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Obama in early April, offers banks an alternative means for raising capital. Using the “Emerging Growth Company” (EGC) approach, banks can obtain capital through investors with only two years of audited financial statements and more limited public financial reporting than currently required of banks registering stock.

There is a significant “sea change” in financial services, as many banks attempt to re-align their approach to the small-business market.

TD Bank has named Carol F. Polsky the store manager of its Mansfield location at 95 Storrs Road in Mansfield Center.

Bank of America Corp. expects to reduce its long-term debt by about $40 billion in the second quarter, eliminating interest expense of $230 million per quarter going forward, Chief Financial Officer Bruce Thompson said.