PBN Healthiest Employers Awards 2026
100-499 EMPLOYEES
1. Centreville Bank
CEO (or equivalent): Harold M. Horvat, chairman, CEO and president
Full-time U.S. employees: 288
At Centreville Bank, encouraging a healthy work environment isn’t an empty cliché; it is company policy.
According to Jeff Kennedy, vice president of total rewards at the West Warwick-based bank, the senior management team embraces a culture that encourages a healthy lifestyle.
“All employees understand who we want to be as an organization and how we want to behave,” Kennedy said.
He explained that the company runs the full gamut of health and welfare programs, including two traditional health insurance plans: a preferred provider organization and a health maintenance organization.
“I think one thing that we do differently than many other organizations is that embedded in both plans is a [health reimbursement account]. We use that to help offset the out-of-pocket costs for deductibles for employees,” Kennedy said.
Meanwhile, Centreville Bank leadership says that it has become creative with nontraditional benefits.
“Gym reimbursement programs, community discount programs, partnering with customers and vendors so we can extend what our employees get from a health and wellness standpoint beyond just the four walls of the bank,” said Josh Varone, executive vice president and chief human resources officer.
Varone said that while the bank has seen an increase in its healthcare costs in this past renewal period, management decided to absorb the full increase rather than pass it along to employees.
“This was a big deal internally,” Varone said. “Employees were appreciative of the significant savings without an increase.”
According to Varone, the decision was well justified due to employee concerns regarding the rising costs of gas, food and utilities.
“One of the things that makes us good at what we do is our executive team listens to our employees,” he said. “We heard that loud and clear, so when the renewal came up, it was a strategic discussion that resulted in a zero percent increase for our employees.”
In the category of preventive care, in addition to an on-site gym at the company headquarters, the bank hosts a wellness fair and offers a full gym reimbursement program for employees who want to visit their own facility.
In addition, this past year, Centreville Bank partnered with the Greater Providence YMCA and Hale YMCA in Putnam, Conn., to get discounted memberships for bank employees.
“They get a reduced membership to the YMCA and that reduction covers them with our full reimbursement, so they basically can work out for free for the year,” Varone said. “That is some of the creative things we do to leverage our partnerships in the community to offset the rising costs but have more holistic options available to our employees.”
In September, the bank will hold a three-hour wellness fair that will include blood pressure monitoring and body mass index testing. Vendors, including Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and Delta Dental of Rhode Island, will be available to talk to employees. The fair will also include companies that address financial wellness, such as 401(k) plans and 529 college savings accounts.
Varone said that the last time the bank hosted a wellness fair, more than 90% of its employees participated.
There is a hidden benefit to attending the wellness fair, Kennedy said. “An opportunity for all employees – especially those who are at the retail banking locations – they all come together, network and it becomes an engagement event,” he said.
To address the challenges of rising costs, this past year the bank partnered with a new broker for benefits.
“We are tackling that from a strategic standpoint where we always like to have a three-year look ahead on what we want to do within the benefits and wellness space,” Varone said. “Through our enhanced partnership there, and our advanced planning, we are trying to mitigate rising costs for the next three years by providing the best options of benefits while not having the employees pay that much more year over year.”
A HEALTHY THOUGHT: ‘This was a big deal internally. Employees were appreciative of the significant savings without an increase.’
Josh Varone, executive vice president and chief human resources officer
