🔒Ed Augustus’ next act: Growing UniBank

Ed Augustus wants to expand UniBank’s presence in Worcester. “There's opportunities to grow that footprint here in the city of Worcester. As the city grows, we’d like to be part of the growth,” Augustus said. When he took over as UniBank’s CEO on March 2, Augustus became the second executive from a non-traditional background to lead the Whitinsville-based financial institution. He brought decades of experience leading government institutions and strong ties in the Central Massachusetts business community.

“It's an interesting and exciting hire,” said Samantha McDonald, real estate attorney and partner at Worcester law firm Bowditch & Dewey. “UniBank has a solid place in south county, but trying to expand a little more into the city and into more Central Mass, choosing somebody who knows both the state government and the city like the back of his hands is a good choice.” While Augustus’ strategy for UniBank’s future is more of a long-term vision than a concrete plan, he wants to explore expanding the bank’s physical locations around Worcester, lean into his pre-existing relationships, and continue to focus on housing. After spending eight years as Worcester city manager and the last 33 months as the first Massachusetts secretary of housing and livable communities in three decades, he envisions his role at UniBank to be his last full-time job. “The chance to come home and be involved in the community, albeit from a different perspective, was a unique opportunity at this stage of my career,” Augustus said. “This is a place that I'll stay for the foreseeable future and try to make a difference in places that I've been trying to make a difference my whole career, albeit wearing different hats.”

“Keep the visibility of the bank high”

As CEO, Augustus is following in the footsteps of former CEO Michael Welch, who also came from an untraditional background as former headmaster of the private St. John’s High School in Shrewsbury. Bank CEOs usually come from within, or at least from other banking institutions. Just under a quarter of banks filled senior roles with talent sourced from outside the banking industry between 2022 and 2025, according to a report from media firm Bank Director. The small portion of banks that looked outside the banking space have been satisfied, with that same report showing 97% of those hires were considered successful by participating bank executives. “I’m the second CEO in this kind of non-traditional banker model coming in,” Augustus said. “Hopefully I've got some of the same contacts, and maybe some different new contacts, that continue to allow me to introduce the bank to new customers, maintain the good relationships that the bank has with its existing customers, and to continue to keep the visibility of the bank high.” At 10.3%, UniBank has the second largest market share in Worcester County, trailing Bank of America, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data. With $2.5 billion in local deposits, UniBank is the largest bank headquartered in Worcester County. Augustus’ ties with UniBank date back years before his hiring, as he served on the firm’s board briefly before being offered the housing secretary role. During his time as city manager, he spearheaded the effort to develop the publicly owned, $160-million Polar Park baseball stadium, leading to the development of a financing district to pay for the project. That eventually led Boston-based developer Madison Properties to build The Revington apartment complex next to Polar Park. That mixed-use development was partially financed by UniBank, along with Rockland Trust and Holyoke-based PeoplesBank. The Revington now holds a UniBank branch, which opened in 2024 and is one of the bank’s 14 locations, joining another Worcester branch on Gold Star Boulevard.

Housing focus

Augustus wants UniBank to continue to focus on the residential market. Residential loans are an important part of UniBank’s revenue. About 43.9% of its gross loans have residential property as collateral, coming in at $935.4 million, according to the bank’s December 2025 call report filed with the FDIC. The next largest loan category is consumer loans, coming in at 33% with $703.1 million, driven by Sterling Associates, UniBank’s subsidiary providing RV and boat loans. This is followed by loans with commercial real estate as collateral, coming in at 19.7% with $419.6 million. Given the current economic climate, McDonald said more banks might switch to financing a higher amount of smaller projects, rather than a few large projects. “The smaller deals are often easier to get done,” she said. “Banks want to work with any developer that can put it together, but I think working with the smaller developers to do smaller projects is likely going to be a sweet spot for them, and probably for the city too.” A focus on the residential real estate market plays into the role Augustus played in leading the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities under Gov. Maura Healey. Augustus’ time there established groundwork to tackle the state’s housing crisis, he said, pointing to his work staffing up the office, implementing the MBTA Communities Act, and passing the Affordable Homes Act, a set of 49 initiatives meant to accelerate housing production. “We passed it through the legislature in the same session it was introduced, which isn't always a certainty, and then we implemented it,” he said. “Things like accessory-dwelling units by right … There's no silver bullet to the housing crisis, but it's part of it.” Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the real estate and banking & finance industries.