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NBT Bancorp elects new chairman, announces succession plan

Martin Dietrich. Photo credit: NBT Bank.

NORWICH, N.Y. — The board of directors of NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: NBTB) elected president and CEO Martin Dietrich as board chairman following Tuesday’s announced retirement of chairman Daryl Forsythe.

The board also “unanimously endorsed” an executive succession plan with Dietrich announcing his intention to retire in December.

Norwich–based NBT Bancorp is the parent company of NBT Bank.

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Under the succession plan, John Watt, Jr. will succeed Dietrich as CEO of NBT Bank and NBT Bancorp.

The NBT Bancorp board also promoted Watt to president of NBT Bank, effective immediately.

“NBT has benefited from consistent leadership for several decades,” Dietrich said in the release. “We are pleased to have the resources within our organization to create this succession plan. The Board’s unanimous endorsement of the plan speaks to the high level of confidence they have in John Watt and NBT’s entire executive-management team.”

About Dietrich
Dietrich began his career in financial services with NBT Bank in 1981.

He joined the bank’s senior-management team in 1995 before becoming bank president in 2000.

Dietrich later became president and CEO of NBT Bank and president of NBT Bancorp in 2004.

He took over as CEO of NBT Bancorp in 2006.

He joined the bank’s board of directors in 1993 and NBT Bancorp’s board of directors in 2005.

About Watt

Watt joined NBT Bancorp in 2014 to lead the bank’s expansion into Maine and establish a regional headquarters in Portland, Maine.

Since joining NBT, his role has expanded to provide executive leadership for credit administration, consumer lending, marketing and product development.

He was promoted to executive VP and joined NBT’s executive-management team in 2015.

Watt has more than 30 years of experience in financial services.

Prior to joining NBT Bancorp, he was executive VP of commercial banking, investment management, and bank operations at Alliance Bank, N.A. through the merger with NBT Bank in 2013. He was also a member of the board of directors for Alliance Bank and Alliance Financial Corporation.

He was previously employed by JP Morgan Chase and its predecessors, according to the news release.

Expanded roles
The NBT Bancorp board also expanded the roles of three of its executives.

Timothy Brenner, executive VP and president of wealth management, has expanded responsibilities involving oversight of all non-bank businesses. That includes wealth management and financial services; EPIC Advisors, Inc., NBT’s 401(K) plan-recordkeeping firm; and NBT-Mang Insurance Agency.

Besides Brenner, the board promoted executive VP Matthew Durkee to the position of president of New England.

In addition, executive VP Joseph Stagliano now has responsibility for retail banking in addition to his duties as chief information officer. In that role, he oversees functions related to IT, operations, systems development and facilities. Stagliano’s new title is executive VP of operations and retail banking, NBT Bank said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

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