LAKEVILLE — Salisbury Bank and Trust President Rick Cantele said that the merger between SBT and NBT Bank of Norwich, N.Y., is on schedule and that all “customer-facing” employees have been offered jobs with the new entity.
In a telephone interview Friday, March 3, Cantele said NBT is reviewing operations staff and procedures. Some employees will be offered similar roles, and others different jobs.
Salaries and benefits are roughly the same, he added.
“Some people are deciding to retire,” Cantele said, and some are changing careers entirely. The bank is offering a severance package for those employees who choose to leave.
Cantele will be staying on, but not as the chief executive officer, “to ensure the transition runs smoothly.”
NBT has committed to keeping the operations center on Bissell Street in Lakeville, the former site of the old The Lakeville Journal building.
The merger must be approved by regulators and shareholders. Cantele said he expects the merger to be complete by mid-May.
Asked if any current SBT branches will close, Cantele said the Red Oaks Mill branch near Poughkeepsie is closing, but that decision was made prior to the merger.
No other SBT branches are slated for closing at this time, although once the merger is complete there will be two branches of the new bank at the northern and southern ends of Great Barrington. Cantele said there are no plans as of now to close one of them.
