Monson Savings Bank has recently announced the following promotions:
Kandy Tranghese, vice president/chief financial officer, has been promoted to senior vice president/chief financial officer. Tranghese has been a certified public accountant for nearly 25 years. She had been working with Monson Savings Bank since 1998 as an auditor with Wolf & Company P.C., where she worked as a senior audit manager until joining Monson Savings Bank as vice president, CFO in September 2020. Tranghese is one of the bank’s strategic planning and division officers.
Dodie Carpentier, vice president/human resources officer, has been promoted to first vice president/human resources officer. Carpentier joined the bank as the Monson branch’s assistant manager in July 2006. In 2008, she became branch manager at the bank’s Hampden location. In January 2013, Carpentier took on the responsibility of education coordinator before taking on her role as human resources officer in August 2014. In March of 2015 she was promoted to assistant vice president/human resources and then to vice president of human resources in December 2016. She is one of the bank’s strategic planning and division officers.
Kevin Hicks, vice president/operations officer, has been promoted to first vice president/operations officer. Hicks joined the bank in February 2015. He has worked in the financial operations sector since 2000. Hicks was a 2023 Monson Savings Bank President’s Award recipient and is one of the bank’s strategic planning and division officers.
Caitlin O’Connor, vice president/marketing officer, has been promoted to first vice president/marketing officer. O’Connor joined the bank as vice president/marketing officer in October 2020. She is one of the bank’s strategic planning and division officers and will continue overseeing the bank’s marketing, public relations and advertising strategies.
Heather Arbour, assistant vice president, Bank Security Act/fraud officer and compliance manager, has been promoted to vice president/BSA/fraud officer and compliance manager. Arbour joined the bank as a customer service associate in April 2007. She worked her way up to CSA supervisor a year later before becoming the assistant branch manager of the bank’s Wilbraham location in 2010. In 2011, she joined the Bank Secrecy Act department as a compliance analyst. As her responsibilities in the BSA/compliance department increased, she became compliance and BSA manager before being named BSA officer and compliance manager during 2020. In July 2022, she was promoted to assistant vice president BSA/fraud officer and compliance manager.
Wil Morales, Monson branch manager, retail banking and security officer, has been promoted to assistant vice president/Monson branch manager, retail banking and security officer. Morales joined the bank in November 2016 as branch manager in Monson. Morales previously was a branch officer at Berkshire Bank. After five years at Monson Savings, he was promoted to branch manager/retail banking and security officer in January 2021.
Paul Shepardson, digital systems officer, has been promoted to assistant vice president/digital systems officer. He joined the bank in June 2010 as a customer service associate in Hampden before being promoted to customer service representative in Monson. In October 2013, he became business banking administrator and E-banking specialist. In August 2015, he was promoted to digital systems supervisor before becoming digital systems manager in July 2018. In January 2021, he was promoted to digital systems officer.
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Eight business executives from Greater Springfield have been elected to leadership positions with the board of directors of Associated Industries of Massachusetts. Members of the statewide business association elected Tricia Canavan, chief executive officer of The Tech Foundry in Springfield, as vice chair of the AIM Board of Directors. Canavan was also re-elected to the AIM Executive Committee, where she will be joined by new members Carol Campbell, president and CEO of Chicopee Industrial Contractors; and Dominic Ianno, head of state government relations/law department, MassMutual.
Elected to the AIM board for the first time were Keith Fairey, president and chief executive officer, Way Finders in Springfield; Stacy Gilmour, vice president of human resources at Quabbin Wire & Cable Co. in Ware; and Michael Knapik, vice president, government and community relations at Baystate Health in Springfield.
Campbell was re-elected to the board, along with Patricia Begrowicz, president of Onyx Specialty Papers in South Lee; and Meghan Sullivan, partner at Sullivan, Hayes & Quinn in Springfield.
Canavan has served in multiple roles with AIM, including chair of the association’s Compensation Committee. A graduate of Trinity College, she serves on several boards including the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education.
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Monson Savings Bank announces the election of two new corporators, Vanessa Otero, of Springfield, and Andrew J. (AJ) Crane, of Chicopee.
Otero founded the Lavender Group in 2024. Prior to that, she was a founding board member and executive director of the Healing Racism Institute of Pioneer Valley. The Lavender Group provides several consulting services, including workforce development, small and micro business development, organizational change, staff recruitment and retention, coaching and mentoring, event planning and management, public affairs and governmental relations. Otero is the chair of the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission and serves as a trustee for the Springfield Museums.
Crane is the owner of A. Crane Construction in Chicopee. He serves as chairman of the Board of Directors at Westmass Development Corp. and the Chicopee Chamber of Commerce. He was past president and current board member at Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Western Massachusetts.
