WASHINGTON, D.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 4, 1999--James C. Smith, chairman and chief executive officer, Webster Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:WBST) and Webster Bank, Waterbury, Conn., has been elected to a three-year term as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Bankers Association.
He is the first executive from what has traditionally been viewed as the thrift industry to serve on that body.
ABA's board is the association's governing body between annual conventions.
ABA brings together all categories of banking institutions to best represent the interests of this rapidly changing industry. Its membership -- which includes community, regional and money center banks and bank holding companies, savings associations, trust companies and savings banks -- makes ABA the largest bank trade association in the country.
Smith joined the bank in 1975 when it was called First Federal. He was elected president of the bank in 1982, CEO in 1987, and president and CEO of Webster Financial Corp. in 1986. In 1995, First Federal was renamed Webster Bank in honor of his father, Harold Webster Smith, whom he succeeded as chairman in 1995.
Smith is co-chair of the Governor's Council on Economic Competitiveness and Technology, an organization of business, government, community and labor leaders working to foster growth, competition and new business formation in Connecticut. He also chairs Waterbury Partnership 2000, a public-private partnership dedicated to planning economic development in Webster's home city.
Smith serves on the boards of MacDermid Inc. (NYSE:MRD), the Connecticut Business and Industry Association and St. Mary's Hospital. He has served in various capacities with the Connecticut Bankers Association, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the Chamber of Commerce and United Way.
Smith is a graduate of Deerfield Academy and holds a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College.
Pro forma for its pending merger with New England Community Bancorp, Webster Bank has $10 billion in assets and operates through a network of 125 banking offices, three commercial banking centers and 200 ATMs, in addition to telephone, video, Web and PC banking. Webster is also a leading, full-service commercial and mortgage lender in Connecticut. Webster Trust, the bank's trust and investment management subsidiary, is one of the leading bank trust companies based in Connecticut. Webster's insurance subsidiary, Damman Insurance Associates, is one of the largest agencies in the state. Webster's Nowlending.com subsidiary found at www.nowlending.com on the World Wide Web, originates low-cost mortgages over the Internet for customers across the United States.