FLORENCE—Florence Bank recently presented the 2025 President’s Award to three staff members for exceptional service. 

Established in 1995, the President’s Award recognizes outstanding performance, customer service and overall contribution to Florence Bank. Those named are nominated by their colleagues at the bank. 

This year’s award recognizes Brennan LaFlamme of Westfield, an IRA specialist in the bank’s main office in Florence; Bill Olejarz of Longmeadow, an information security risk analyst, also in the main office; and Katherine Ravenelle of Southampton, teller operations manager in West Springfield.

LaFlamme has six years of industry experience and has served as a teller supervisor and customer service specialist. Responsible for maintaining all IRA accounts and keeping up to date on regulations, he provides IRA trainings for customers and staff. Currently working toward a degree in cybersecurity at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, LaFlamme is active in the community, serving as a board member for the Therapeutic Equestrian Center in Holyoke.

With four years in the industry, Olejarz assesses cybersecurity risk to help protect sensitive data and systems, reviews vendor security and works with departments to support compliance and ensure security controls are in place to reduce threats. He is skilled at third-party risk management, regulatory compliance, cybersecurity and risk reporting, security awareness training and cross-department collaboration. He holds a master’s degree in cybersecurity management from Bay Path University, a bachelor’s in business administration from Western New England University and an associate degree in computer information systems from Springfield Technical Community College.

Ravenelle has 13 years of banking experience. She manages teller line operations to ensure quality service is provided while adhering to policies, procedures and security. She handles customer transactions, account openings and account servicing and is skilled at customer service as well as adapting to different markets and customer needs, branch operations, fraud prevention and detection.

Matt Garrity, president and CEO of Florence Bank, said, “We are very proud of these three individuals who gained notice from their peers because they are courteous, hard-working and dedicated to their areas of expertise. Their contributions to Florence Bank allow us to provide the superior customer service for which we are known.”

About Florence Bank

Florence Bank is a mutual savings bank chartered in 1873. Currently, the bank serves the Pioneer Valley through 12 full-service branch locations in Florence, Northampton, Easthampton, Williamsburg, Amherst, Hadley, Belchertown, Granby, Chicopee, West Springfield, and Springfield. Additionally, it offers 25 ATMs and a wide range of financial services, including investment management through FSB Financial Group (FSBFG) to consumers and businesses. Florence Bank is consistently voted best local bank by the readers of the Valley Advocate.