Page 12 - BusinessWest March 2, 2026

BANKING & FINANCE >>
Time of Transition
Under New
Leadership,
Greenfield Savings
Bank Forges
Ambitious Plans
BY GEORGE O’BRIEN
[email protected]
was done interviewing Peter Albero, he was
As Tom Meshako remembers it, by the time he
convinced the latter was not only his best
candidate to become CFO and treasurer at
Greenfield Savings Bank, but also a possible
successor when he moved into retirement in a few years.
“I thought we had a lot of similarities — we felt the
same way coming from a public institution; we came here
for the same reason, the right reason,” said Meshako, not-
ing that, like Albero, he came to GSB to be in a mutual
bank setting and in a position to give back to the commu-
nity it was serving.
Albero, who came to GSB from Salisbury Bank in
Connecticut after it was acquired by NBT Bank, added
that, “as a community bank, we didn’t do a lot for the com-
munity, because we had to pay dividends to shareholders.
“I wanted to work at an institution where we could give
back to the community instead of giving to shareholders.”
Meshako’s initial thoughts back in the summer of 2023
turned out to be prescient, as Albero prevailed in nation-
wide search last year for a successor to Meshako, who
will retire to Florida in the spring.
Albero, who will take the helm on April 1, does so at
an intriguing time in the bank’s history — although he
says the banking industry is “always interesting.”
Indeed, the institution is expected to reach $1.5 billion
in assets in the first quarter of 2026, an important mile-
stone and another threshold as GSB continues its quest
for an all-important commodity in the banking industry
— size.
“Scale matters, and our goal is to continue to grow our
loan book without increasing our head count and become
more efficient,” said Albero, noting that much of the
bank’s growth has come on the commercial lending side.
Meanwhile, the bank will cut two significant ribbons in
the coming weeks. One will be at the renovated Leavitt-
Hovey House next door to the bank’s headquarters on
Main Street in Greenfield, and the other will be at its lat-
est branch, a key piece in a massive redevelopment proj-
ect at the site of the former Tasty Top in Easthampton.
The former is a nearly $7 million initiative that will
Peter Albero, left, takes the reins from Tom Meshako on April 1.
Greenfield
Staff Photo
Continued on page 14 >>
12 MARCH 2, 2026
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