Trustco gavel handed down to son

PHOTOGRAPHER: James Schlett

The longtime face of Trustco Bank Corp., Robert A. McCormick, is further loosening his grip on the company and stepping down as its chairman.

The Glenville bank holding company announced Tuesday that McCormick will resign on Jan. 1 as chairman of Trustco’s board of directors. McCormick will retain a seat as a member of the board, on which he has sat since 1980. His son, Robert J. McCormick, will become chairman at the beginning of 2009.

The father-son handoff follows Robert J. McCormick’s rapid ascension through the board, which he joined in June 2005. He has served as Trustco’s president and chief executive officer since 2004. He joined the company in 1995.

As president and CEO, the junior McCormick’s total compensation for 2007 was $$954,200, down 6.6 percent from a year earlier, according to an April proxy statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The senior McCormick in January 2001 became Trustco’s chairman, a position that previously had been vacant. Bank Vice President and Treasurer Kevin Timmons said Robert A. McCormick’s resignation as chairman does not affect his contract to serve as a consultant for the board.

The five-year consulting contract took effect in June 2006 and carries an annual fee of $300,000. It also provides the senior McCormick with a personal secretary, use of a company vehicle, health insurance, estate planning services and tax payments on those benefits of $49,830, along with other perks, according to the proxy.

Robert J. McCormick is assuming full leadership over Trustco at a time when the company is getting battered by the economic downturn. The company posted a net income of $26.9 million for the first nine months, down 13.3 percent from the same period of 2007.

Trustco has 119 branches in five states and about 700 employees. By the close of trading Tuesday, Trustco’s stock was $10.35, up 1.37 percent.