Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JANUARY 22, 2024 3 BIZ BRIEFS CT Bank CEO announces succession plan GSB Chief Operating Officer Kyle Eagleson (left) with CEO Timothy Geelan. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED PeoplesBank names new president, chief financial officer; plans additional CT locations (From left) PeoplesBank CEO and Chairman Tom Senecal, President and Chief Operating Officer Brian Canina, and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Hayes Murray. PHOTOS | CONTRIBUTED By Skyler Frazer sfrazer@hartfordbusiness.com A fter a decade as chief executive, Timothy Geelan is relinquishing his title as president of Guilford Savings Bank (GSB) this month, and plans to leave his CEO post next year, bank officials said. GSB's board of directors this month announced that it approved Geelan's succession plan, which includes current Chief Operating Officer Kyle J. Eagleson taking over as president later this month, and succeeding Geelan as CEO in March 2025. Geelan, who has worked at GSB since 1994 and has been president and CEO for 10 years, will stay with the bank on its board of directors, the bank said. During his tenure, Geelan helped GSB grow from less than $560 million in assets to more than $1 billion, while its employee count increased by almost 205%, the bank said. By Andrew Larson alarson@hartfordbusiness.com M assachusetts-based Peoples- Bank has named a new presi- dent and chief financial officer, while its CEO has added a chairman title. CEO Tom Senecal has been named chairman of the bank. He is also drop- ping his president title, which is being taken over by Chief Operating Officer Brian Canina. Meantime, Hayes Murray has been promoted to executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer. Senecal said the leadership changes come at a time when PeoplesBank has surpassed $4 billion in assets, with more than 300 employees and 20 banking centers in Connecticut and Massachusetts. That growth is expected to continue. The bank's board of directors recently approved plans to open branches in Glastonbury and Avon, as the bank looks for other expansion opportunities. As of June 30, 2023, PeoplesBank had $400.6 million in Connecticut deposits and four in-state branches, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data. In his new role, Senecal will spend more time planning and managing growth and revenue activities, according to the bank. He joined PeoplesBank in 2009, and has served as executive vice president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer. In his expanded role, Canina will take on the new responsibilities of human resources, marketing and corporate responsibility. He is a graduate of Bryant University and formerly served as a certi- fied public accountant. Murray has more than 20 years of expe- rience in the financial services industry and earned a master's degree in accounting from Western New England University. He joined PeoplesBank in 2021. GSB is the 13th-largest bank headquar- tered in Connecticut based on deposits, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data. It had $890.7 million in deposits and eight branches as of June 30, 2024, FDIC data shows. WTIC's owner files for Ch. 11 bankruptcy Audacy Inc., a national broadcasting company that owns several radio stations in Connecticut, including WTIC, has begun prepack- aged Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings as it seeks to restructure $1.9 billion in debt. The Philadelphia-based company owns WRCH "Lite 100.5 FM," WTIC-1080 AM, WTIC-96.5 FM and WZMX "Hot 93.7" in Hartford, along with WDUP-92.9 FM in New London. Audacy, formerly known as Radio.com, this month filed a petition in the U.S. Bank- ruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. In the filing, it lists assets of $1 billion to $10 billion. After restructuring, Audacy would be left with roughly $350 million in debt. Audacy said it "does not expect any operational impact from the restructuring." Prospect Medical chain owes CT $67M, tax liens show The state has filed three tax liens against Prospect Medical Holdings because the Cali- fornia company has neglected to pay $67 million in taxes, records show. The liens, filed by the Department of Revenue Services late last month, show that Prospect Water- bury Inc. owes the state $36.39 million, Prospect Manchester Hospital Inc. owes $22.9 million and Prospect Rockville Hospital owes $8.1 million for a total of $67.39 million. The hospital group has failed to pay the state its share of what is known as the health provider tax or hospital user fee, which requires every hospital, nursing home and other healthcare providers to pay the state a tax annually based on its revenues. Pros- pect hasn't paid taxes dating back to March 2022, according to the three liens. By filing the lien, the Depart- ment of Revenue Services is protecting the state's interest if the hospital chain were to file for bankruptcy or be sold. Any sale would be contingent on the state getting paid the back taxes. Prospect is negotiating with Yale New Haven Health to sell the three hospitals for $435 million, but the deal needs final approval from the state Office of Health Strategy, which has been reviewing it for more than a year. The two hospital groups and OHS officials have quietly been meeting over the past few months to iron out an agreement. CT MIRROR Former Aetna CFO Guertin to depart CVS Health; new chief financial officer, also with Aetna ties, named CVS Health announced several top leadership changes, including the appoint- ment of Tom Cowhey as its next chief financial officer. Cowhey has held the interim CFO title since October, when the company announced that former Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Shawn Guertin would be taking a leave of absence. Rhode Island-based CVS announced that Guertin will be stepping down from his roles due to family health reasons, and will leave the company on May 31. Guertin is known locally in Hartford, where he spent time as Aetna's CFO, before the health insurer was acquired by CVS Health in 2018. Cowhey, who joined CVS Health in February 2022, also worked at Aetna, spending more than a decade there in various strategy and finance roles. 75% of in-state UConn graduates staying in CT About three-quarters of residents who graduated from the University of Connecticut during recent semesters now work in the state, according to new data from the school. The UConn Center for Career Development released results of a new survey that tracked what recent graduates were doing after earning their degrees from the university. About 75% of employed in-state graduates work in Connecticut, compared to 69% last year, the survey found. Many graduates originating from out-of-state (18%) have chosen to stay in Connecticut, too, the survey found. The survey data includes information from students who graduated in the fall and winter of 2022 and May 2023. Shawn Guertin

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