Berkshire County — The Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce will honor Lee Bank President and CEO Chuck Leach as its Person of the Year on Wednesday, September 13. The event will be held at 5 p.m. at Catamount Mountain Resort at 17 Nicholson Road in South Egremont.
According to the bank’s website, Leach has been president and CEO of Lee Bank since 2015. He earned his Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management, Claremont Graduate University, in Claremont, Calif. From 1999 to 2002, he was the vice president of the Gilder Technology Group and the Telecosm Fund. From 2002 to 2007, he was the vice president and senior portfolio manager at TD Bank Wealth Management group. From there, until 2015, Leach worked as the senior vice president of wealth management and chief investment officer at Berkshire Bank Wealth Management.
“I think this is a wonderful recognition,” Leach told The Berkshire Edge. “But I think this is really an honor for the bank itself. Everything that I do is really because of the people that I work with. I know that sounds like a cliche, but it’s absolutely true. My coworkers are incredibly responsible, responsive, nimble, and agile.”
The bank’s success—and Leach’s own—is all due to working with “a great group of people,” according to Leach. “We’ve been doing a lot of new and different things as a bank,” Leach said. “When I present those ideas, my co-workers are all over these ideas and help me to execute them. During my career, I’ve always been in the financial services sector. But this role of being in traditional community banking started for me eight years ago, and I love it.”
Leach expressed his appreciation for Lee Bank’s customers. “As other financial institutions get bigger, we practice a very intimate approach to business and I think that still resonates with our customers,” he said. “It’s all about being accessible in the community.”
Tickets to the event are $70 per person. For more information, go to the chamber’s website.
