David Glidden has only been leading Liberty Bank for about three years but he’s made a big impact on the Middletown-based mutual lender’s strategy, with a focus on digital technology and expanding its local lending footprint, particularly along the I-91 corridor.
He will also soon be running the second-largest Connecticut-based bank, once M&T Bank’s pending purchase of People’s United Bank is approved by federal regulators.
Glidden was named Liberty Bank’s CEO in March 2019, succeeding longtime banker Chandler J. Howard. Glidden brought with him over 30 years of industry experience, including most recently as a regional president for the northern New England and upstate New York region for TD Bank.
Since joining Liberty Bank he’s placed a major emphasis on financial technology, hiring well-known fintech executive David Mitchell, who is expanding the bank’s digital banking efforts, including the planned launch this year of an online-only bank platform.
The bank, which has more than $7 billion in assets, has also been making moves — hiring bankers and opening loan offices, including its first in downtown Hartford — to refocus its commercial loan portfolio on more local turf up and down the I-91 corridor. Hartford is seen as central to the effort.
While many banks have been gobbled up in recent years, Glidden has also pledged to keep Liberty Bank independent.
A graduate of Providence College, Glidden also attended The National School of Banking in Fairfield and The Ivey School of Executive Management in Toronto, Ontario.
