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16 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | DECEMBER 1, 2025 Jeremy Miller, Liberty Bank's newly appointed chief operating officer, outside the bank's Middletown headquarters. HBJ Photo | Michael Puffer Forward Momentum Amid strong growth and cross-border ambitions, Liberty Bank names first COO, elevates new generation of leaders A catalytic leader One of Miller's earliest assignments at Liberty became a defining turn- around: fixing the bank's sluggish home mortgage operations. When he arrived, Liberty ranked 15th among Connecticut banks in annual mortgage volume, and the average closing time topped 70 days. There was no single leader over- seeing the process, and internal silos slowed performance. "The worst thing you can do for someone is they lose a home because you can't close in a time frame they need you to," Miller said. To change that, he recruited Matthew Cammarota, formerly of Webster Bank, to lead retail lending. Together, they rebuilt the workflow, cutting average closing times to under 30 days. The results have been dramatic: Liberty became the top-producing home loan lender among Connecticut banks for the past two years, Miller said, origi- nating one of every 10 home loans in the state in 2024. Cammarota was among the six executives promoted to executive vice president this fall. "When you are able to build that type of process, it enables your sales team to go out and talk to their constituents, which are your realtors, who probably didn't think much of Liberty because it took us so long to get stuff done," Miller said. "Now, all of the sudden, you are able to execute, and that certainty of execution is there, and our lenders were able to go sell that in the marketplace." A similar approach has reshaped Liberty's commercial lending opera- tions, reinforcing the bank's reputation for speed and reliability. "When we say we are going to do something at Liberty, we get it done," Miller said. Since Miller's arrival in 2021, the bank's loan portfolio has expanded from $4.1 billion to $6.8 billion, he said, with residential mortgages accounting for about 40% and commercial loans 60%. As COO, Miller now aims to deepen cross-department collaboration, sharpen customer experience with existing resources and help steer long- term strategy alongside Glidden. The AI conundrum Another emerging challenge — and opportunity — is artificial intelligence. Miller frames AI not as a threat to jobs but as a tool to streamline repetitive work and improve customer experi- ence. Liberty's workforce has grown from about 600 employees in 2021 to a projected 900-plus next year, he noted, underscoring that technology hasn't reduced headcount. Miller said he doesn't view AI as a "Terminator"-style menace. Instead, he likens it to the "Iron Man" suit in the Marvel movies — a powerful enhance- ment for those who learn to use it. "When you look at the benefits of AI and automation, it's the ability to eliminate redundant tasks and things that aren't completely adding value," Miller said. "When you look at people who could lose their positions to AI, it's because they are not embracing the AI. It's utilizing the right tools at the right time to improve your process to deliver a better customer experience." By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com W hen David Glidden first began courting Jeremy Miller to join Liberty Bank, the conver- sation started over lunch at an Italian restaurant in downtown Middletown, near the bank's longtime headquarters. It was just two months after Glidden's 2019 appointment as Liberty's pres- ident and CEO. The two had worked closely together at TD Bank, where Glidden spent nearly 25 years in upper management and Miller 12 years in senior roles. Glidden saw Miller as a seasoned operator who could help modernize one of Connecticut's oldest mutual banks. It took nearly two years for Miller to make the jump. In April 2021, he left his post as head of data and analytics at TD — now a $396 billion-asset institution — to become Liberty's chief lending officer. The move came with a smaller paycheck, Miller acknowledges, but offered something else: the chance to see the impact of his work in the community where he lived. Miller, 56, had spent three decades traveling the country and the world in senior roles at TD, GE Capital and First Citizens Bank. The work was mean- ingful, he said, but the outcomes often felt less than tangible. "You can be in banking, and you're all over the country, or you can be in a community bank and doing stuff in your town and helping your geography and making sure you're doing the right thing, which is really what a lot of bankers want to do," Miller said. "That's where David and I started." On Sept. 1, he stepped into an even larger role: Liberty's first-ever chief operating officer, overseeing many of the day-to-day functions previously handled by Glidden. His span of control jumped from about 150 employees to roughly 400. The promotion is part of a broader leadership revamping at Liberty, which recently elevated six other executives to executive vice president roles. The changes coincide with significant growth. When Glidden arrived in 2019, Liberty held just over $5 billion in assets. Now, in its 200th anniversary year, the bank has more than $8.7 billion. "It really frees me to do the kind of work that will continue our organic growth and our inorganic growth," Glidden said of Miller's elevation. "You know, there are lots of opportunities out there that we are looking at investing in. … It really allows me to have more time from a strategic standpoint, and really follow through with continuing the growth of the company." That strategy ranges from cybersecu- rity and digital investments to potential partnerships with, or acquisitions of, fintech firms. It also includes geographic expan- sion. Liberty in recent years has opened loan production offices along the I-91 corridor in New Haven, Hartford and Springfield. Over the past six months, it has hired several residential loan officers in eastern Massachusetts and plans to add commercial lenders there as well. The bank is scouting office space in Boston and weighing a move into Rhode Island. Executives stress that Liberty won't expand faster than it can support. Miller calls the approach deliberate. Glidden says the first step into any new market is building the right team — the office comes later. LIBERTY BANK'S ASSET GROWTH $10B $8B $6B $4B 2017 2020 2018 2021 2019 2022 2024 2023 2025 ASSETS Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.