Westbrook, Maine—May 1, 2023—Maine Community Bank is pleased to announce the addition of Cecilia Estrada as Assistant Vice President, Residential Loan Officer. Estrada is responsible for originating residential mortgage loans and will be based in Westbrook.

“I believe people do three huge things that change their lives; they get married, have children, and buy a home,” says Estrada. “I love that I get to be a part of the home buying process. It is a great wealth creator for families.”

She comes to Maine Community Bank with more than 30 years of experience in Mortgage Lending. Most recently Estrada held the position of a Mortgage Loan Officer for Key Bank.

Estrada resides in Old Orchard Beach. Her grandparents were immigrants from Mexico. They believed that owning property was one of the single most important privileges of being American. “I love being able to help others achieve the Great American Dream!”

About Maine Community Bank

Maine Community Bank began as a collaboration between two of the longest-standing community banks in Central and Southern Maine, Biddeford Savings and Mechanics Savings. Maine Community Bank supports both personal and business customers throughout Central and Southern Maine with competitive services, financial assistance, and the friendly, local experience that is at the core of everything they do. They have branches in Auburn, Biddeford, Brunswick, Kennebunk, Lewiston, Scarborough, Waterboro, Westbrook, and Windham.

Westbrook, Maine – April 28, 2023 – To support some of the most vulnerable individuals throughout the state, The Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Charitable Foundation approved a donation of $30,000 to Tedford Housing, a community organization with a central belief that everyone deserves to have a safe and affordable home. Tedford Housing provides emergency homeless shelter, supportive housing for previously homeless families and individuals, as well as homeless prevention services.

The Foundation recently presented Tedford Housing with a check for $10,000, the first installment of a three-year $30,000 commitment, which will be used toward their newly proposed 17,568 square foot facility in Brunswick. The new facility will replace the existing building, which the organization has outgrown, and will increase their emergency housing capacity and family emergency capacity to a total of 64 emergency housing beds.

“This project is going to transform Tedford’s ability to meet our mission, during a time of overwhelming need for our services,” said Andrew Lardie, Tedford’s Interim Executive Director. “But it’s going to take all of us in the community lifting together, and this generous gift from the Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Charitable Foundation takes us a big step closer to that vision.”

Together, Maine Community Bank and the Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Charitable Foundation contributed over $335,000 to several local non-profit organizations in 2022 and continues to support the local community through donations, volunteerism and in-kind donations each year.

About Maine Community Bank

Maine Community Bank began as a collaboration between two of the longest-standing community banks in Central and Southern Maine, Biddeford Savings and Mechanics Savings. Maine Community Bank supports both personal and business customers throughout Central and Southern Maine with competitive services, financial assistance, and the friendly, local experience that is at the core of everything they do. They have branches in Auburn, Biddeford, Brunswick, Kennebunk, Lewiston, Scarborough, Waterboro, Westbrook and Windham.

About the Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Charitable Foundation

The mission of the Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Charitable Foundation is to help individuals and families in the bank’s local communities meet their basic needs and achieve financial empowerment. In support of this long-term mission, the Foundation concentrates on the goals of providing support to families and individuals in our communities through health, housing, and hunger, as well as helping the next generation overcome issues of inequality and build unity across lines of differences in our communities. The Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Charitable Foundation was created in July of 2020 and is structured to give back to the communities in a larger, more enduring way.

WESTBROOK, ME – Maine Community Bank recently announced new roles within the Commercial Lending Department as well as promotions of two employees.

Jeffrey Gosselin was promoted to Senior Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer. He will be responsible for overseeing the commercial and cash management teams that serve our primary markets in both central and southern Maine. With 25 years of commercial banking experience, his banking career has its foundation in developing long-lasting client relationships as a trusted advisor with a broad perspective to serve our clients’ needs.

Todd Savage has joined us as Regional Vice President of Commercial Banking for Central & Midcoast Maine. He will be responsible for managing the Central & Midcoast Maine Commercial Lending team and maintaining and growing a portfolio of commercial loans and relationships centered around the Central & Midcoast Maine area. He joins us with many years of experience, most recently working for First National Bank.

Jennifer Sirois was promoted to Regional Vice President of Commercial Banking for Southern Maine. She will be responsible for managing the Southern Maine Commercial Lending team and maintaining and growing a portfolio of commercial loans and relationships centered around the Southern Maine market area.

Suzanne Carney was promoted to Chief Administrative Officer.  In her role, she oversees all aspects of Human Resources including talent management, compensation, benefits, employee relations and development.  In addition, she is responsible for Deposit eServices Operations, Call Center and is the Corporate Secretary for the Bank, Maine Community Bancorp and the Bank’s Foundation.

Matthew Boynton was promoted to Assistant Branch Manager of our Biddeford Main Street branch. He has been with the bank for almost eight years and comes from our Waterboro Branch. He will be responsible for managing the Main Street branch’s daily operations.

About Maine Community Bank

Maine Community Bank has been supporting Maine’s communities for over 150 years. They have branches in Auburn, Biddeford, Brunswick, Kennebunk, Lewiston, Scarborough, Waterboro, Westbrook and Windham.

March 13, 2023

To our Maine Community Bank customers:

With the recent collapse of a select few publicly traded specialty banks, customers have asked if there is reason to be concerned about their deposits and the stability of the financial sector.

First and most importantly, your deposits with Maine Community Bank are safe and secure.  Maine Community Bank bears no resemblance to the troubled banks you are hearing about in the news.  We are very well capitalized, have an extremely strong liquidity position and excellent credit quality.  As a mutual savings bank, we are not publicly traded, and therefore not subject to the unpredictable valuation declines driven by a spooked market.  Specifically, Maine Community Bank strengths are:

• Our Tier 1 capital is almost three times the minimum regulatory requirement
• Over 80% of our assets are in loans to Maine families and Maine businesses, not low yielding investments which are driving the declines in other bank tangible equity
• We have a strong balance sheet and liquidity position with a diversified deposit base and access to multiple funding sources
• In summary, Maine Community Bank is profitable, stable and secure.

As reported by the latest FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile data, America’s banks are strong and resilient. The events of the last several days do not change that. Regulators have a broad range of tools available since 2010 to deal with stresses inherent to banking.

Banking local means knowing firsthand how your money is being managed and who is making decisions.  At Maine Community Bank we only do business in Maine, we know our communities well, and we are prudent in delivering on our mission is to ensure our prosperity and the ability to enrich our customers, communities and employees.

For over 150 years your trust in us has been our priority, and we will continue to do so every day.

Please let us know if you have questions.

Thank you and Best regards,

Jeanne A. Hulit
President & CEO

 

Westbrook, Maine – December 22, 2022 – According to data from Feeding America, over 139,000 Mainers are facing hunger and one out of six are children.  To help alleviate hunger issues in the community, Maine Community Bank is taking decisive action. Through its charitable foundation, the Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Foundation, a donation of $50,000 is being made to 12 different organizations focused specifically on food insecurity.

To address this very serious problem, the Foundation has pledged $6,000 to Good Shepherd Food Bank and individual donations of $4,000 each to 11 different organizations serving communities in Androscoggin, York and Cumberland counties.  These include:

Biddeford Food Pantry
Community Outreach Services Food Pantry
High Street Congregational Church Food Pantry
Mid Coast Hunger Prevention
Saco Food Pantry
Scarborough Food Pantry
Stroudwater Christian Food Pantry
Trinity Jubilee Center
Waterboro Food Pantry
Westbrook Food Pantry
Windham Food Pantry and Clothes Closet

Good Shepherd Food Bank and the 11 other hunger relief agencies provide essential services in partnership with food pantries, meal sites, senior and health centers, and schools across all 16 counties in Maine. The Foundation’s donation will provide 100,000 meals to needy Mainers.

Jeanne Hulit, Maine Community Bank CEO, stated that “with rising inflation, it is even more challenging to provide adequate nutrition for families in need.  We are happy to be able to partner with the providers in our communities to help meet this urgent need.”

Good Shepherd Food Bank partners with more than 600 community organizations in its network and has grown distribution from 10 million meals in 2010 to 29 million meals during fiscal year 2022.  “With the support of Maine Community Bank and other generous Mainers, the Food Bank is leading a statewide effort to combat the root causes of hunger by engaging in advocacy, nutrition education, and strategic partnerships,” said Kristen Miale, president of Good Shepherd Food Bank.

In addition to these donations, Maine Community Bank is also collecting non-perishable breakfast food items in each of their ten branches through December 23^rd as part of their “Brightening Maine Mornings” campaign. All donations collected will be brought to local area food pantries.

About Maine Community Bank
Biddeford Savings and Mechanics Savings have been financial partners with the people of Central and Southern Maine for the past 150 years. To help carry out their commitment to the communities they serve, the two banks merged on January 1, 2020, becoming divisions of Maine Community Bank. The merger expands the lending capacity, product offering, and branch service areas, while keeping all decision-making at the local level. They have branches in Auburn, Biddeford, Brunswick, Kennebunk, Lewiston, Scarborough, Waterboro, Windham, and Westbrook.

About the Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Foundation
The Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Charitable Foundation was created in July of 2020 and is structured to give back to the communities in a larger, more enduring way. The Foundation’s mission is to help individuals and families in the bank’s local communities meet their basic needs and achieve financial empowerment.

Westbrook, Maine – August 15, 2022 – To support some of the most vulnerable individuals throughout the state, The Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Charitable Foundation delivered a donation of $10,000 to Sweetser, a community mental health provider offering services to people of all ages in mental and behavioral health, intellectual and developmental disabilities, recovery, and education. In recent years, the awareness and stigma surrounding mental health has lifted, but the access and affordability of these services has not.

The Foundation recently presented Jayne Van Bramer, President & CEO at Sweetser with a check for $10,000 which will be used to support individuals by improving their quality of life as they receive help through their darkest and scariest moments. The funds will also help towards removing barriers for Maine’s families and allowing access to mental healthcare, leading to positive long-term outcomes and a brighter and more promising future.

Together, Maine Community Bank and the Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Charitable Foundation contributed over $327,000 to several local non-profit organizations in 2021 and continues to support the local community through donations, volunteerism and in-kind donations each year.

About Maine Community Bank

Biddeford Savings and Mechanics Savings have been financial partners with the people of Central and Southern Maine for the past 150 years. To help carry out their commitment to the communities they serve, the two banks merged on January 1, 2020, becoming divisions of Maine Community Bank. The merger expanded the lending capacity, product offerings, and branch service areas, while keeping all decision-making at the local level. They have branches in Auburn, Biddeford, Brunswick, Kennebunk, Lewiston, Scarborough, Waterboro, Westbrook and Windham.

About the Biddeford and Mechanics Charitable Savings Foundation

The Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Charitable Foundation was created in July of 2020 and is structured to give back to the communities in a larger, more enduring way. The Foundation’s mission is to help individuals and families in the bank’s local communities meet their basic needs and achieve financial empowerment.

Westbrook, Maine—July 11, 2022—Maine Community Bank is pleased to announce the addition of Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte as Senior Vice President, Director of Compliance. Turcotte is responsible for the oversight of the Compliance and Internal Audit Programs at Maine Community Bank and will be based in Westbrook.

“I am honored to contribute to the work of Maine Community Bank because of its steadfast dedication to Maine, with a proven record of elevating women leaders,” says Turcotte.

She comes to Maine Community Bank with nineteen years of legal, compliance and risk management experience. Most recently, Anna worked at TD Bank and Androscoggin Bank.

In 2012 Anna published her childhood diaries surviving ethnic cleansing as a child refugee, titled “Nowhere, a Story of Exile,” which she wrote at the age of 14 as her family settled in North Dakota as refugees. Since the publication of this diary Anna has spoken on behalf of her community at US Congress, UK & European Parliaments and speaks worldwide on genocide prevention, refugee issues, international law, and human rights.  Additionally, Anna implements humanitarian initiatives in Armenia with the Anna Astvatsaturian Foundation. Anna volunteers her time mentoring Maine girls with Olympia Snowe Women’s Leadership Institute.  She serves as the Board member of the Maine Justice Foundation and donates her time to numerous other local organizations.

“We are so pleased to have Anna join our team and bring her wealth of experience to Maine Community Bank. Anna is a proven leader who is deeply committed to her community and to helping us deliver on the bank’s mission to enrich our customers, communities and colleagues,” says Jeanne Hulit, President & CEO of Maine Community Bank.

Anna has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Dakota and a Juris Doctor from the University of Maine School of Law. She lives in Westbrook with her husband and two children, and is a third term Westbrook City Councilor, currently serving as the first woman and immigrant President of the Westbrook City Council.

 

About Maine Community Bank
Maine Community Bank, through its divisions of Biddeford Savings and Mechanics Savings have been supporting Maine’s communities for over 150 years. They have branches in Auburn, Biddeford, Brunswick, Kennebunk, Lewiston, Scarborough, Waterboro, Westbrook and Windham.

Westbrook, Maine—May 13, 2022—Maine Community Bank is pleased to announce the addition of Ryan Wing as Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer. Wing is responsible for overseeing IT systems and security at Maine Community Bank and will be based in Westbrook.

“I am excited for the opportunity to serve our community, looking to future technologies that will benefit all of our diverse customers, and promoting collaborative enthusiasm in our already impressive team here at Maine Community Bank.”

He comes to Maine Community Bank with 23 years of IT experience, including leading IT teams with a focus on information security, process automation and cloud forward technology. Most recently Wing held the position of Director of IT and Facilities for a local credit union.

Wing is an alumni member of the Filene i3 Innovation Program. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Southern Maine. He resides in Topsham and in his spare time enjoys hiking and outdoor activities with his wife and two sons. He also has a side-career in illustration.

 

About Maine Community Bank

Maine Community Bank, through its divisions of Biddeford Savings and Mechanics Savings have been supporting Maine’s communities for over 150 years. They have branches in Auburn, Biddeford, Brunswick, Kennebunk, Lewiston, Scarborough, Waterboro, Westbrook and  Windham.