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Our Board

The diverse backgrounds and wealth of experience these individuals bring to the company is extraordinary. Our distinguished board of directors oversees the strategic direction and governance of the organization, combining professional accomplishments with a commitment to philanthropy and community service.

Our Board of Directors is comprised of four employee representatives, three retired employees, and four independent directors.

Our Employee Members

Chris R. Cassidy

Employee-Owner, Board Member

Jack Davidson

Retired Employee-Owner, Board Member

Chris Lafayette

Employee-Owner, Board Member

Jennifer Rowe

Employee-Owner, Board Member

Nanette J. Stevens

Employee-Owner, Board Member

George von Trapp

Retired Employee-Owner, Board Member

Jane Waysville

Retired Employee-Owner, Board Member

Honorary Directors Emerti

We acknowledge the following former employee directors

Steve Singiser

John Abel

Our Independent Directors

George K. Belcher

Board Chair

Judge Belcher served as a Washington District Probate Judge from 1991 to 2012 and currently hears administrative hearings and appeals for the Office of Professional Regulation.  A graduate of the Vermont Law School and the University of Kansas, Judge Belcher is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and was a practicing attorney with Abare, Nicholls and Belcher in Barre, Vermont. 

He is the Past President of both the Vermont Probate Judges’ and the Washington County Bar Associations, and the recipient of the Vermont Volunteer Lawyers’ Project Award and the Vermont Bar Association’s Award of Merit. Judge Belcher has also served on the Vermont Bar Association’s Vermont Trust Code Drafting Committee and the Vermont Supreme Court’s Probate Rules Committee, the  Vermont Supreme Court’s Judicial Education Committee and the Justice for Children Task Force and Child Protection Advisory Board.  He has taught business law at Vermont College and Norwich University and is the author of various publications for the Vermont Bar Journal.

Joseph W. Constance, JR.

Board Member

Mr. Constance is a retired college librarian at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, where he remains a permanent Adjunct Faculty member of the Department of Politics and Instructor of Humanities.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts from St. Michael’s College, a Master of Arts from the University of Vermont, a Masters of Library Science from the State University of New York at Albany and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Boston University.

He has written numerous papers and presentations and has a manuscript, The Great American Missile Defense Debates, now under submission for publication.

Molly dillon

Board Member

During her career, Molly held a variety of senior management positions within the Vermont banking community. Over 35 years of that career focused on Trust and Investment practices. Molly retired to her second career, at the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, where she served as Deputy Commissioner of Banking from 2017 – 2022.

As a former “community banker” and regulator, Molly will bring extensive experience to our Board. Molly is a graduate of Cornell University, National Trust School at Northwestern University and she earned the professional designation of CTFA “Certified Trust Fiduciary Advisor”. Molly has served on the Board of Champlain College and the Honorary Board of Directors for the Visiting Nurse Association of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties.

Tammy A. Richards, CVA

Board Member

Tammy is the owner of Country Business, Inc. (“CBI”), a regional brokerage firm specializing in the sale of privately held businesses throughout New England.  She has over 28 years of experience in finance, business valuation and M&A.  She began her career with Citigroup in New York where she spent 5 years in the Acquisition Finance Group working closely with private equity firms in valuing and financing buyouts of middle market and large-cap companies.  She then became Vice President in the Global Loans Portfolio Management Group where she managed a portfolio of leveraged corporate loans for the next 3 years.    

After moving to Vermont in 2006, Tammy worked for a regional accounting firm providing business valuations of family-owned and closely held businesses for sales and acquisitions, estate planning, gifting and other tax related purposes.  She also provided clients with financial consulting services focusing on cash flow forecasting, budgeting and debt analysis. 

Tammy is a Certified Valuation Analyst as designated by the National Association of Valuation Analysts (“NACVA”).  She has been an instructor for NACVA’s Business Valuation Fundamentals webinar series and served on NACVA’s Valuation Credentialing Board and Executive Advisory Board.  Tammy is actively involved in her community having served on several boards including the Vermont Economic Development Authority and The Brattleboro Retreat for several years.  She is currently a board member of Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and The Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation.