Leaders at Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: BHLB) see room for growth in the year ahead in the banking company’s new Central New York footprint.

Berkshire Hills, parent of Berkshire Bank, first entered the Central New York market in 2011 with its acquisition of Rome Savings Bank. The company then closed a $132 million acquisition of DeWitt–based Beacon Federal Bancorp (NASDAQ: BFED) in October.

The moves give Berkshire access to a market with a total population of about 700,000, Berkshire Chairman and CEO Michael Daly said during a Jan. 29 conference call on the bank’s latest quarterly results.

Beacon Federal had about $1 billion in assets and seven branches in DeWitt, East Syracuse, Marcy, and Rome, as well as Smartt, Tenn., Smyrna, Tenn., and Chelmsford, Mass. The Rome and Syracuse markets together now form Berkshire’s Central New York region.

Berkshire previously announced it would divest Beacon Federal’s Tennessee branches.

Daly said Berkshire recently added a new commercial leader for the Syracuse market, which he added was an important part of the bank’s strategy. The Beacon deal also helped Berkshire build its presence in eastern Massachusetts with the addition of the Chelmsford location, he said.

Berkshire is expecting cost savings related to the Beacon Federal deal of 30 percent, Berkshire Executive Vice President and CFO Kevin Riley said during the call. The bank will reach that goal after Beacon Federal completes a conversion of its banking system in March, he added.

Berkshire Hills cut 11 jobs following the Beacon Federal deal. Beacon Federal had about 130 employees before the acquisition.

For the fourth quarter, Berkshire Hills earned $9.3 million in the fourth quarter, up from $8.5 million a year earlier. Earnings per share for the period totaled 38 cents, down from 40 cents in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Excluding the effects of acquisition and system conversion costs, Berkshire earned $13.2 million, or 54 cents a share.

For the full year, Berkshire earned $33.2 million, or $1.49 per share, up from $17.3 million, or 97 cents a share, in 2011. Excluding acquisition and system conversion costs, the company earned $44.2 million, or $1.98 per share, in 2012.

“We’re pretty focused on the challenges and opportunities in front of us in the new year,” Daly said. “And I think the industry challenges are pretty widely agreed on: margin pressure due to low rates and business volume uncertainties due to an uneven economy.

“But by positioning ourselves strategically and reacting flexibly, we believe that we’re prepared to deal with those challenges”

Berkshire has assets of $5.3 billion and 75 branches in Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont.

Deposits at the end of the year totaled $4.1 billion, up from $3.1 billion at the end of 2011. Loans totaled $3.4 billion, up from about $3 billion.

Contact Tampone at ktampone@cnybj.com