Tompkins in New York Fills Chairman Post

Tompkins Financial (TMP) in Ithaca, N.Y., has picked the successor to its founding chairman.

Thomas Rochon will become chairman after the retirement of James Byrnes in May 2014, the $4.9 billion-asset company said Thursday. Tompkins' board expects to elect Rochon next spring.

Byrnes, 71, has been chairman since the company's formation in 1995; he has been a director of its predecessor since 1989. He was the company's chief executive from 1995 to 2006.

Rochon, 60, is president of Ithaca College, a post he has held since 2008. He has been on Tompkins' board since 2007.

Rochon "brings executive-level expertise running a complex business in an extremely competitive, yet highly regulated, marketplace," Byrnes said in a press release. "He is a great choice to help position Tompkins for the future."

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