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4 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY 5, 2024 BIZ BRIEFS Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union, First Bristol Federal CU seek merger By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com R ocky Hill-based Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union and First Bristol Federal Credit Union have applied to merge under the banner of Nutmeg, the larger of the two institutions, according to the state Department of Banking. In an application filed Jan. 8, the credit unions set a June 1 target date for the merger of the 10-branch Nutmeg Financial with First Bristol, which has two branches in the city for which it's named. The merger needs approval from the Department of Banking and National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). The two institutions have set a January 2025 target date for putting the Nutmeg name on the Bristol branches and merging all core data systems and online member-facing platforms, said Nutmeg CEO John D. Holt. Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union, chartered in 1935, has 42,900 members and assets of $565.57 million, according to the NCUA. It has branches in Manchester, Milford, Rocky Hill, Orange, New Britain, Stratford, Glastonbury, Norwalk and North Haven, as well as one for students, parents and faculty at Rocky Hill High School. First Bristol, which also launched in 1935, has 5,762 members and assets of $108.5 million. The merger will retain all branches and staff from both institutions, Holt said. After the merger, Nutmeg will have nearly 130 staff — including the entire First Bristol management team — and more than 50,000 members and over $700 million in assets, Holt said. Holt said the merger will bring growth with new efficiencies and lower overhead costs. It will also provide an array of new products and services for First Bristol members. "It's going to give a lot of the members of First Bristol a lot more options, a lot of technology that we have, more branch locations," Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union will be growing its central Connecticut 10-branch footprint following its merger with First Bristol Federal Credit Union, which has two branches. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Holt said. "We have a bigger product offering for loans and deposit accounts." Scaling up The pending merger of First Bristol into Nutmeg continues a long-run- ning consolidation trend that has dramatically reduced the number of Connecticut credit unions over the past two decades, even as the overall number of credit union members and assets have grown considerably. Holt said First Bristol has excel- lent management and a strong membership base, but it's difficult for small institutions to keep pace with new regulations and rapidly evolving technology. Nutmeg will shortly launch a new online platform with an improved mobile app and remote-deposit feature, he said. "Credit unions and even banks often merge to provide members with more options, more value to being part of an organization that is bigger," Holt said. Holt stressed the merged organi- zation will still be a "medium-sized, locally run" financial institution. John Holt CT targets 3M, DuPont and others over PFAS pollution in water Connecticut filed two lawsuits on Jan. 25 accusing chemical makers, including DuPont and 3M, of covering up for decades the dangers of PFAS, a class of toxic and ubiqui- tous "forever" chemicals that persist in the environment and are widely detected in private wells and public water systems. With litigation filed in Hartford Superior Court, Connecticut joins the growing list of plaintiffs suing major chemical makers over a slowly unfolding fiscal, environmental and public health crisis. A handful of manufacturers agreed to $12 billion in settlements in 2023, and the industry is bracing for more. Mark Pazniokas | CT Mirror Bank with increasing CT presence announces new CEO, C-suite shake up New York-based NBT Bancorp Inc., which has significantly grown its Connecticut presence in recent years, announced it will have a new CEO this spring. John H. Watt Jr. will step down as NBT's president and CEO on May 21, the bank announced. He will be replaced by current NBT Chief Financial Officer Scott A. Kingsley, who will become CEO and also a member of the bank's board of directors. Watt will continue to serve on NBT's board and become vice chairman in May. In addition, Joseph R. Stagliano, NBT's current president of retail community banking and chief infor- mation officer, will become NBT Bank's president, while Annette L. Burns, NBT's chief accounting officer, will be promoted and assume the role of chief financial officer. NBT, with $13.8 billion in assets, entered the Connecticut market in 2020, and significantly grew its presence in the state last year with its purchase of Salisbury Bank and Trust Co. Ørsted agrees to acquire Eversource's 50% share of Sunrise Wind project Danish company Ørsted has agreed to acquire utility company Eversource Energy's 50% stake in a 924-megawatt offshore wind farm in New York, Sunrise Wind. Eversource, based in Hartford and Boston, previously announced that it would divest its 50% ownership stake in three offshore wind proj- ects in New York and Connecticut, including Sunrise Wind. As a result, Eversource will take a 2023 fourth-quarter charge of up to $1.6 billion. All three projects are joint ventures with Ørsted. Ørsted's acquisition is contingent upon the selection of the Sunrise NBT Bancorp Inc. CEO John H. Watt Jr. Ørsted North America's Block Island offshore wind farm. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Wind project in an ongoing solic- itation process in New York, the company said. Breeze adds two new South Carolina routes from Bradley Breeze Airways will launch two new routes to South Carolina from Bradley International Airport this spring, the airline announced. Twice-weekly service to Myrtle Beach from Bradley in Windsor Locks is set to launch May 2. Service to Greenville-Spartanburg, also twice-weekly, will launch May 24. Bradley already offers nonstop flights to and from Charleston, South Carolina. Breeze last month also announced it will launch new summer seasonal services between Bradley and the cities of Cincinnati and San Diego. The company said it will also discontinue work on a program targeting advanced chronic kidney disease. That will result in the job cuts. Cara, a publicly traded company, has annual revenue of about $41 million. The company said it ended 2023 with about $101 million in cash.