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Perspective April 32
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2, Saturday | April 23, 2011, Bangor Daily News PERSPECTIVE 2011 BANKS
“New” Machias Savings Delivers Same Exceptional Service ■ BY BRIAN SWARTZ
he indicated. Phillips and Amanda Ashe are relationship officers who meet with businesses, non-profits, and municipalities across Maine. “We educate them about bank products and services, and we introduce them to new services that help them streamline operations and reduce costs,” Phillips said. Also assigned to the Business Services Department are two business service specialists, Angela Ring and Jessica O’Neill. “They handle the day-today needs of our customers,” Phillips said. “They’ve been to Jackman, Canada, Kittery, and points in between,” Donnelly said, referring to the business services team. “Business Services works closely with our business bankers and branch personnel to meet the needs of our customers and prospects.” “Once a customer’s need is identified, we bring in the right people to serve that need,” he said. “We operate as a team” to “maintain a consistent commitment to providing exceptional service. We have hired experienced people” who “listen to our customers to learn what they need now and in the future. We offer comprehensive solutions.” In just four months, the Business Services Department has assisted many MSB customers. “The reception from the customer base has been enthusiastic,” Donnelly said. “A lot of new business has come to us because of their [business service specialists) work. “Our customers are thrilled with the attention and the service they are getting. That is our goal: We become friends and partners with our customers to help them succeed,” he said. “We hired people with great attitudes, great aptitudes, and a good old Down East work ethic,” Donnelly said. “Lisa did an excellent job putting her team together. They truly complement what we already do as a commercial banking team.”
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eet the new Machias Savings Bank: a new logo, a new vision statement, new attributes, and the same exceptional commitment to providing exceptional customer service. Earlier this winter, Machias Savings unveiled a new brand image that stresses “our exceptionalism,” said President Edward L. Hennessey Jr. “Being exceptional isn’t a new concept for Machias Savings Bank; it’s what we’ve always been, and we want our customers to realize that.” “All our customers, when they think of Machias Savings Bank, we want them to think of having the most exceptional experience in banking,” said Traci Sanborn, senior vice president for marketing. “We may be Machias Savings Bank, but we’re in your community, from Aroostook County to the Midcoast.” Starting last fall, MSB senior managers met with representatives from the Alabama ad agency Reflex Blue to develop a new brand image. “They spent time with our senior management team” and “visited all our market areas,” Sanborn said. Reflex Blue recommended that Machias Savings emphasize its traditional tag line, “Experienced People. Exceptional Service.” The new brand image features: • A new logo with colors representing MSB’s foundation in Down East Maine; Sanborn described the colors as “the blue in blueberries, cooked lobstertail,” and “gray granite.” • A new vision statement: “To provide the most exceptional banking experience in the state of Maine.” • A new mission statement: “We will be exceptional in every relationship, in every product developed, in every service rendered and in every promise made.” • New attributes: friendly, reachable, thoughtful, progressive, helpful. Machias Savings Bank employees responded enthusiastically when introduced to the new brand image on Jan. 22, 2011. Sanborn stressed that “their attitude and professionalism” influences bank customers; “we rely on our employees to deliver that exceptional banking experience,” she said. “We continue to provide them with the training they need to deliver that exceptional service.” Machias Savings will launch a springtime advertising campaign to introduce the new brand image; all exterior bank signage will be changed by this summer, Sanborn indicated.
EXPANDING TO BREWER
Photo Courtesy of Machias Savings Bank
Representing the Business Services Department at Machias Savings Bank are (from left) Business Services Officer Amanda Ashe, Business Services Specialist Angela Ring, Vice President and Manager of Business Services Lisa Phillips, and Business Services Specialist Jessica O’Neill. They work with businesses, municipalities, and non-profits throughout Maine.
BRIGHT SPOTS IN A CHALLENGING YEAR
Last year saw economic challenges continue within Machias Savings Bank’s service area, Hennessey indicated — but a few emerging business sectors show promise. “We haven’t seen a lot of growth,” he said. “There hasn’t been a lot of new growth opportunities” among “the many businesses that have witnessed economic slowdown.” Lobster prices trended upward in 2010 and boosted incomes for lobstermen adversely impacted by collapsed prices a year earlier. “Lobstering has always been a strong sector in Down East Maine,” Hennessey said. “It’s a capital-intensive industry … for boats, gear, lines of credit. Right now the lobstermen are making money; they’re investing some in new equipment, which generates economic activity.” Low-bush blueberries represent another natural resource vital to the Down East economy — and 2010 brought good news for growers hammered by 2009’s steep price drop. “Blueberries have become a hot item on the international market,” Hennessey said, also mentioning the berry’s purported health benefits. Last spring’s unseasonably warm temperatures caused berry plants to blossom about two weeks earlier than expected, and a typical mid-spring frost then devastated fields across interior Hancock and Washington counties. The resulting harvest decline actually benefited growers who saw prices “almost double” from 2009, Hennessey pointed out. “The processors will be sold out by the start of this year’s growing season,” he said. The Eastport Port Authority is expanding support facilities for its Estes Head Cargo Terminal. The $7 million project involves a new warehouse, a modern ship-loading and –unloading conveyor
Machias Savings Bank President Edward L. Hennessey Jr. says that the bank’s new logo (above, right) and brand image unveiled earlier this year stress “our exceptionalism.” Machias Savings Bank operates 13 branches from Houlton to Bangor to Rockland and plans to open a new branch in Brewer late this year.
system, and 12 additional acres dedicated to loading space. The port broke records by handling more than 400,000 tons of cargo in 2010; most tonnage came from Woodland Pulp LLC, a pulp mill purchased from Domtar by the International Grand Investment Corp. of Hong Kong. “The [Baileyville] mill looks great right now,” Hennessey said. “They’re exporting almost every bit of pulp they make through Eastport.” Woodland Pulp LLC now incorporates more softwood in its pulp, a fact that benefits Down East loggers, according to Hennessey. A thick spruce-fir forest blankets the coast from Frenchman Bay east and stretches miles inland; for years, loggers working in this forest shipped spruce and fir logs to mills “two to five hours away,” he indicated. “With Baileyville using more softwood, the log-
Since MSB opened a branch at 1126 Hammond St., Bangor, “we’ve had terrific growth in the area” with commercial lending and retail banking services, said Senior Regional Vice President James Donnelly. Machias Savings has long viewed the Greater Bangor Region as a strong market where “we can compete very well,” Hennessey said. “We do a lot of business in Bangor and Brewer. The reason we were successful in Bangor is that we were in the commercial lending business there for years. “With the Bangor branch, we could offer retail banking to our commercial customers,” he said. “Our experience in Bangor has been positive for us and our customers.”
gers can truck their logs an hour to Woodland instead of hours to Jay or Rumford,” Hennessey said. “The markets are very, very strong for our loggers, but the fuel prices are hurting them. If the price of fuel had remained where it was last fall, the loggers would’ve had a great winter.” Meanwhile, the moribund Maine economy has not spurred significant job growth, he indicated. In the past few years, some Machias Savings depositors lost high-paying jobs; some found employment at lower wages, and others remain unemployed. Both factors impact economic activity. “We have seen interest rates drop to levels that most of us would not have believed,” Hennessey wrote in MSB’s 2010 annual report. This decline caused many property owners to refinance their mortgages with MSB last year, but also devastated retirees who depend on interest income; according to Hennessey, many retirees were forced to “dip into their [savings] principles to make ends meet. “It’s been a difficult year, but we’re continuing to expand into other areas,” he said. “We provide exceptional customer service; our customers con- James Donnelly is a senior regional vice president for Machias Savings Bank. stantly let us know that.” Later this spring, construction will start on a BUSINESS SERVICES DEPARTMENT two-story, 12,432-square-foot branch at 581 Wilson St., Brewer. “We’ve outgrown the branch in While headquartered in Washington County, Bangor,” Hennessey said. “We have no room for Machias Savings Bank operates 13 branches from expansion there. Every office is full.” Houlton to Bangor to Rockland. The bank works Like the Bangor branch, the new Brewer branch with businesses, non-profits, and municipalities will be full-service with a lobby and drive-up winthroughout Maine, however, and this year created a dows. According to Hennessey, 10-12 people will new department that focuses on servicing that work there; about half will be new employees. extensive clientele. “Brewer will be more focused on retail [banking] Based in Bangor, the Business Services Depart- services, although we’ll have all the commercial ment “opened fully staffed” on Jan. 1, 2011, Don- services available there,” Sanborn said. nelly said. Lisa Phillips, MSB’s vice president of The Business Services Department will relocate business services, “hired a top-notch staff certified to the Brewer branch when it opens in late 2011 or and trained to take care of our business customers,” early 2012.
PERSPECTIVE 2011 BUSINESS, BANKING & COMMERCE
SPECIAL SECTIONS WRITING TEAM Debra Bell David Fitzpatrick Brian Swartz ADVERTISING SALES TEAM Brian Cotlar Ben Drouin Amy Hayden Linda Hayes Kristin Hurd Kathy Keegan
Debbie Niles Jeff Orcutt Michelle Thomas CREATIVE SERVICES TEAM Josh Alves Faith Burgos Bridgit Cayer Michele Prentice Chris Quimby Pam Tweedie Sam Wood
Perspective 2011 is online at
www.bangordailynews.com If you would like to advertise in Perspective 2012 or if you would like to publish your own special advertising supplement,please contact Sales Managers Beth Grant at (207) 990-8251,bgrant@bangordailynews.com, or Nicole Stevens at (207) 990-8213,nstevens@bangordailynews.com, or (toll free in Maine) at 1-800-432-7964,Ext.8251 or 8213.
ADVERTISER INDEX ACCOMMODATIONS Ellsworth Hotels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Acadia Birches Knights Inn Comfort Inn Hampton Inn Ramada Acadia Park Hotel
Infinity Federal Credit Union . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Lincoln Maine Federal Credit Union . . . . . .5 Maine Savings Federal Credit Union . . . . . .7 Norstate Federal Credit Union . . . . . . . . . . .8
INSURANCE Cross Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 MEMIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Varney Agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
BANKS
MEETING PLACES
Machias Savings Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-3 People’s United Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Meetings in Maine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-13 Acadia Birches Knights Inn Atlantic Oceanside Bangor Civic Center Bangor Motor Inn Bar Harbor Inn Caribou Inn Four Points by Sheraton Lucerne Inn Muddy Rudder Ramada Acadia Park Hotel
COLLEGE INVESTING NextGen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
COMMUNICATIONS Oxford Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
CREDIT UNIONS Changing Seasons Federal Credit Union . .16
Sea Dog Banquet & Conference Center Thistles Restaurant
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Eaton Peabody . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
REAL ESTATE Maineville Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Consumer Title Erica Brooks - Swan Agency Prudential Northeast Properties Showcase Homes
RETAIL Bangor Mall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
TRAVEL Bangor International Airport . . . . . . . . . . . .9