Adams Community Bank names Julie Fallon Hughes as president and CEO |

ADAMS — Julie Fallon Hughes has been named the next president and chief executive officer of Adams Community Bank, according to a statement from Community Bancorp of the Berkshires, MHC, the bank’s parent company.

She will succeed current President and CEO Charles O’Brien, who will retire at the end of the transition period, according to board Chair Jeffrey Grandchamp.

Hughes previously served as region president at Northwest Bank in Pennsylvania, leading all commercial, mortgage and consumer lending efforts. Before her work at Northwest, she served as a senior executive at several regional and community banks.

“We are pleased that Julie will lead our management team in directing ACB’s future progress, growth, and profitability,” O’Brien said in the statement. “Her depth of knowledge with all lending and banking operations will be invaluable as our industry evolves.”

O’Brien’s pending retirement will mark the end of a 44-year career in the financial services industry, with the last 27 served at Adams Community Bank. He first joined the former South Adams Savings Bank in 1997 as chief financial officer.

He has been active in the community and the banking industry. He served as the director and former chair of the Deposit Insurance Fund, as longtime director and state chair for the Massachusetts Bankers Association, and served on various American Bankers Association committees.

O’Brien is also former director and former chair of the Northern Berkshire United Way, a member of the Berkshire Business Roundtable, a board member of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, treasurer of the MCLA Capital Campaign, and the Adams Lions Club. He and his wife, Lisa, live in Williamstown.

During O’Brien’s tenure, the bank grew from three offices with 35 employees and $127 million in assets in 1997 to a 10-office community bank with over $1 billion in assets and 135 employees today.

O’Brien, who has served as CEO for 22 years, was instrumental in initiating the 2012 merger of Adams Cooperative Bank and South Adams Savings Bank. The merged bank was then renamed Adams Community…