Bruce G. Chimo Retires from The Savings Bank after 35 years of service

After nearly 35 years, Bruce Chimo retired from The Savings Bank having most recently served as Vice President of Branch Administration. In an industry that is driven by numbers – total assets, deposits, net interest margin, operating expense ratios, return on equity, non-interest income, and on and on ad nauseam – it is often forgotten that those numbers are actually driven by people. At The Savings Bank, no one over the past 35 years has helped to shape more people than Bruce Chimo, both in his role as an office manager and as Branch Administrator. You can’t look at Bruce’s career and say “he grew deposits by X%” or “Bruce brought in $X million in new money.” His fellow employees look at Bruce’s career by the staff he mentored, by the thousands of customers he helped, and by the hundreds of front-line staff he kept safe. Branch administration is a tricky business. Some days Bruce would get a call and hear, “Bruce, you’ve got 5 people on the teller line.” The same caller, the next day, would call Bruce and say, “Bruce, how come you only have five folks on the teller line?” Then there’s the juggling aspect of branch administration. Bruce had a finite number of folks to cover a variety of positions, with differing needs and skills, over an eight office network stretching from Wakefield to Methuen plus coverage for the high school branch oversight. Vacations, illness, jury duty all put Bruce in a position where he should’ve just ignored his caller-id about staffing levels but never did. He was always patient and unflappable. Bruce was directly responsible for almost 50% of the Bank’s employees. He managed this responsibility remarkably well and never resorted to an unkind word or a flippant remark. He was often the first member of senior management at a branch following a robbery – the worst situation a banker has to respond to. He was caring, supportive, and sympathetic each and every time. And while “procedures” alone don’t protect people from getting hurt, Bruce’s mantra of “safety first, just do what you’re asked” kept many front-line staff safe when they were most vulnerable. Over the years, Bruce allowed his staff to thrive and to move into other positions. Sometimes these moves were within the branch network and sometimes they were into other departments or to another bank. He helped people grow and, as the highest compliment, he’s never been threatened by the success of those he helped. There is an enormous void at the Main Office now that Bruce has stepped down. Most of his career was spent downtown and, for many, he was the face of the Bank. Bruce was the epitome of the “open door” professional. The Savings Bank thanks Bruce for 35 years of being a great employee, a great friend, and a symbol of what makes The Savings Bank successful, on behalf of 140 current employees. This equates to the half of us that worked with him directly and the other half of us that wishes we had. The Board of Directors of The Savings Bank recently recognized Bruce G. Chimo, (center of the photo) Vice President, Branch Administration, upon his retirement from the Bank after 35 years of service. Joining Bruce and wishing him well on his retirement are (from left to right) Vice Chairman Michael Barrett, Clerk Susan O’Neill, Director Glenn Dolbeare, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Robert DiBella, Chairman John Spinello, Bruce Chimo, Director Daniel Sherman, President and Chief Executive Officer Brian McCoubrey, Director Thomas Mullen, Director Karen Sawyer, Director Scott Garrant, Director Anthony Gallugi, Director Carolyn Ogren, and Director Mark Simeola.