BUSINESS BRIEFS: Bristol leadership, AIM Comments, Convenience Stores Win

Above, Murray and Silva of Bristol County Savings

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Bristol County Savings Announces Management Plans

At the Annual Meeting of the Bank’s holding company, Beacon Bancorp, in May the Bank elected Patrick J. Murray, Jr. Chairman of the Board of Directors and announced John Silva as his successor as President. This transition is part of the Bank’s overall succession plan that was adopted by its Board of Directors over a year ago. Murray stepped down as President in May, and will remain in his role as Chief Executive Officer until the end of 2024. He will also serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the next nine years. Murray, a former CPA with Wolf & Company PC, has enjoyed a 38-year career in the financial services industry. As part of its succession plan, the Bank also announced the election of John Silva as President and Chief Banking Officer. Silva will assume the role of both President and Chief Executive Officer upon Murray’s retirement in December.

AIM Lauds Passage of Housing Bill

Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) expressed its full support for the $5.16 billion housing bond bill passed by the Massachusetts Legislature. At the same time, the statewide business association voiced disappointment that the proposed multi-billion-dollar economic development bill was unable to secure agreement. "The Affordable Homes Act passed by the Legislature represents a significant step towards addressing the Commonwealth's housing crisis. The bill provides much needed investments and implements key policy changes without imposing any anticompetitive policies," said Brooke Thomson, President and CEO of AIM. "This historic investment will help reduce the prohibitive cost of housing in the state and help to ensure that the people who work for Massachusetts businesses can also live here. We have a supply problem, and the only solution is to build our way out and provide access to thousands of new homes for our workers.

Convenience Stores Get Small Wins in iLottery Rollout

Massachusetts’ landmark legislation legalizing a new online lottery - called iLottery – has included several key protections advocated for by the convenience store industry to protect brick-and-mortar businesses and create a competitive landscape when the new system is rolled out. “Through our hard work and advocacy, we are proud to see that many key protections for our store operators were included in the new legislation passed this week by the Legislature,” said Peter Brennan, Executive Director of the New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association. “Simply moving the State Lottery online without any consideration for the impact on local store owners would have been catastrophic. We are grateful that the Legislature included these vital protections to help our store owners remain competitive in the face of evolving technologies.”Included in the new law are:

• The creation of a stakeholder “Lottery Modernization Committee,” which will include several industry representatives, including a member of NECSEMA and a licensed sales agent from a brick-and-mortar store;

• Allowing brick-and-mortar stores to accept debit card payments for lottery;

• Requiring all iLottery apps to include a search function to point customers to local stores;

• Requiring strict age verification for iLottery; and

• Requiring the Lottery commission to implement promotional activities to encourage the purchase of lottery tickets, games, or shares through licensed sales agents.