Eric E. Stickels was formerly the President and Chief Operating Officer of Oneida Financial Corp. ( Oneida Financial ) until 2015 and has over 40 years of experience in the banking industry previously serving in various leadership, operational and financial positions, including Chief Financial Officer, with Oneida Savings Bank and its bank holding company, Oneida Financial. He also served on the Board of Directors of Oneida Financial and Oneida Savings Bank and as a member of their Asset/Liability, Trust Investment, Compliance, Information Technology, Loan, and Marketing Committees. Mr. Stickels has significant ties to the Central New York region and is actively involved in the community serving on a variety of local organizations, including as the President of the Oneida Community Golf Club, the President of the Oneida Savings Bank Charitable Foundation, a member of NYSARC, Inc. s investment committee, and President and Director of multiple real estate holding companies for The Arc of Madison Cortland. Mr. Stickels is Chair of the Board and provides the Board and its Committees with significant knowledge and experience relating to bank operations, public companies and bank holding companies and their financial reporting obligations and risk management requirements. During the course of his tenure at Oneida Financial, he gained significant financial and risk management experience with direct supervision of the risk management programs at the institution and its financial subsidiaries. Mr. Stickels risk management experience has been a great asset to the Board and led to his selection as the Chair of the Stress Testing Subcommittee which existed from 2017 to 2019 as part of the Bank s preparation for crossing the $10 billion in assets threshold. Mr. Stickels has been determined by the Board to be an audit committee financial expert under the rules and regulations of the SEC.