Suffolk Bancorp CEO Out

Suffolk Bancorp President and chief executive J. Gordon Huszagh has stepped down after 29 years with the Riverhead-based company, according to a statement from the bank's Board of Directors on Tuesday.

Howard Bluver who founded the JDS Financial Group LLC consulting firm in 2005, has been named as the new CEO.

Huszagh, the Director of Suffolk Bancorp and its subsidiary, the , who was named Acting CEO in 2008 and appointed as CEO and President in 2009.

The former president said the move was in the best interest of stockholders.

In November, the bank from Nasdaq's public exchange after it failed to file first or second-quarter financial reports in 2011. The bank was later granted a , and on Dec. 22.

The bank reported $3 million in profit for the third quarter, up from about $3.2 million in losses last year. Though the bank was profitable in the second and third quarters of 2011, the bank also said it has lost $1.2 million this year to date due to losses in the first quarter of 2011, down from a year-to-date loss of $3.2 million in 2010.

Bluver acknowledged the bank's previous situations but said he was confident that with delisting no longer an issue the bank would "move forward."

“I know Suffolk has made great strides in meeting the expectations of its regulators, and that work will continue as a very high priority," Bluver said. "In addition, now that Suffolk is current on all financial reporting, it is time to focus on its customers and the communities it has been an integral part of for over a century.”