Helides joins United Bank as lead lender

Date: 3/21/2011

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Richard B. Collins, president and CEO of United Bank, announced on March 15 that Nicholas P. Helides of Salem has joined the bank, and will manage and be the lead lender of United Bank's new Loan Production Office located at the Cummings Center in Beverly.

In this newly created position, Helides will introduce the United Bank brand and the bank's established commercial real estate lending services to an expanded marketplace, complementing United Bank's lending activity in the greater Worcester and Springfield regions.

A veteran commercial real estate lender, Helides has been a steady producer and manager with several commercial banks for more than three decades. Most recently, he was vice president of commercial real estate lending with Danversbank, a position he held formerly with Beverly National Bank before its 2009 acquisition by Danversbank.

He began his career in the BayBank system, first as a residential underwriter and appraiser for BayBank Mortgage Corp., then moving into commercial real estate with BayBank Middlesex in 1983. He subsequently held key commercial and real estate lending positions with BankBoston, Eastern Bank, and Warren Bank/Banknorth.

Helides earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Bates College. He also completed studies at the New England Banking Institute, the Massachusetts Board of Real Estate Appraisers, the Appraisal Institute, and the Harvard University Extension School.

He is active in the community, serving as a youth mentor in the Children's Friend and Family Services mentoring program. An Aleppo Shriner, he is also a sustaining member of the Rotary Club of Salem.

United Financial Bancorp Inc. is a publicly owned corporation and the holding company for United Bank, a federally chartered bank headquartered at 95 Elm St..