Gearing up for new growth, Bank Rhode Island has expanded its leadership team, adding a chief operating officer and two other senior posts to help support a planned expansion of its business lines and the addition of six more branches in the next several years.
“Our growth has necessitated the expansion of our executive management team,” said Merrill W. Sherman, president and CEO of the bank. “These changes form the structural basis to support our continued growth and will put us in an even better position to capitalize on market opportunities and conditions.”
Building a Strong Data Foundation in the Age of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a key priority in the boardroom and across management —…
Learn More
BankRI’s executive management team will now include Sherman; Donald C. McQueen, who has been promoted to COO; Albert R. Rietheimer, chief financial officer; James V. DeRentis, executive vice president for retail banking; and Linda H. Simmons, who joined the bank this week in the newly created job of executive vice president for finance and treasurer.
McQueen has been with Bank Rhode Island since its inception and has been instrumental in the growth of the bank’s business lines. He most recently served as executive vice president and chief credit and administrative officer. As COO, Sherman said, McQueen will provide “heightened executive-level focus on customer advocacy and operational excellence.”
Simmons was most recently with Bank of America’s Treasury Group in Boston. Previously, she been with the Fleet Financial Group, serving as manager of domestic modeling, as a director of international ALM modeling, and in other capacities.
Two additional senior-level changes were also announced: Stephen J. Gibbons, formerly head of the bank’s real-estate lending group, will now serve as chief lending officer, replacing McQueen in that capacity. In July, Marianne F. Monte joined BankRI in the new position of senior vice president for human resources.
Bank Rhode Island, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bancorp Rhode Island Inc., had $1.2 billion in assets and $887.8 million in deposits as of June 30. Its common stock is traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol “BARI.”
