Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | September 26, 2016 | Worcester Business Journal 21 CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. "The trend that they are a part of is a positive thing," Murray said. McCarthy, who joined Fidelity in September 2015 shortly after the Barre merger was announced, is the head of the contingent of Fidelity executives who came from TD Bank, which is headquartered in Toronto but is the third largest bank in Central Massachusetts with 28 branches and $2.3 billion in local deposits. Joining McCarthy from TD Bank are Laurie Benson, the new Fidelity head of retail banking who started in April; Barry Bliss, the senior vice pres- ident and chief commercial banking officer; and Brenda Woods, the Gardner branch manager and a vice president. Benson worked at TD Bank for 19 years, where she met McCarthy. Her new responsibilities include hiring the right teams for Fidelity's various branches as well as creating new and innovative programs at the bank. As a people person, Benson gravitat- ed towards Fidelity's culture of being caring, collaborative and focusing on the clients' needs. "It's being able to assist our clients at their speed, the clients' speed." Benson said. "There are a lot of great banks out there, but a lot of great banks do not have that culture." The other recent hires from outside banks include the new Fidelity branch WORCESTER in recital with Alessio Bax Saturday, Oct. 29th Mechanics Hall presented by Tickets On Sale at MusicWorcester.org 508-754-3231 Media Sponsors Joshua Bell half page.indd 1 9/22/2016 1:22:45 PM Brenda Woods, the Fidelity branch manager in Gardner, hired from TD Bank Matthew Williams, branch manager in Paxton, hired from Citizens Bank Laurie Benson, the head of retail banking at Fidelity Bank, who was hired away from TD Bank manager in Paxton, Matthew Williams – who joined in August and was Citizens Bank branch manager in Gardner and Littleton – and the new vice president and home loan specialist Pamela Tortora, who joined in July from Leominster Credit Union. The merger with Barre also brought in a whole host of new Fidelity employ- ees. That transaction led the to grow about 25 percent, McCarthy said, which would have taken about three years to obtain otherwise. The only Worcester County mutual bank larger than Fidelity is UniBank for Savings, head- quartered in Worcester. "We're a community bank and we want to be known as a caring, trusted and respected financial partner with our clients," Benson said. "The trend that [Fidelity is] a part of is a positive thing." Timothy Murray, president and CEO, Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce W

• Cover