Attorney elected chairman at The Westchester Bank

Thomas W. Smith last week assumed the chairman”™s seat on The Westchester Bank board of directors, the community bank announced.

A founder of the bank and director since The Westchester Bank was started in 2008 in Yonkers, Smith replaced W. Thomas Clark as chairman. Clark will continue to serve on the board, bank officials said.

Smith is managing partner of Smith, Buss & Jacobs LLP, a law firm with offices in Yonkers and Manhattan. He also serves as managing member of real estate companies that own and operate office, retail and residential properties in Westchester and Fairfield counties.

“It”™s a personal privilege to serve as chairman and I thank the entire board for the faith they have placed in me to continue the success and unprecedented growth we”™ve had the fortune to experience under Tom Clark”™s leadership,” Smith said in the announcement. “Our financial strength in the banking community is directly attributable to excellence at every level of the organization ”“ from our board members to an exceptional management team and staff dedicated to executing our business model of ”˜Banking Made Personal.”™”

The Westchester Bank is relocating its headquarters from Yonkers to 2 Water St. in White Plains. It operates branch offices in Yonkers, White Plains, Thornwood and Mount Kisco.