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Kennebec Savings Bank President and CEO Andrew Silsby
Updated: November 22, 2022
Kennebec Savings will jump into crowded Portland marketplace next year
Cumberland County is a magnet for banks, but out-of-state institutions still control much of the market.
Kennebec Savings Bank plans to open a branch in the first quarter of 2023 that will become its southernmost location.
The property, at 53 Baxter Blvd., includes a two-story, 15,000-square-foot building that's currently home to tenants that include AARP Maine. Kennebec Savings plans to occupy and renovate a former Coldwell Banker real estate office for its branch.
"We are very much looking forward to having a physical presence in Portland," Andrew Silsby, president and CEO of Kennebec Savings, told Mainebiz. "Nearly 15% of the bank's loan portfolio is already in the Portland area, and so it just makes sense to open a branch to be able to fully service those existing customers and to begin welcoming more new relationships" to the bank.
He also noted that the bank has grown substantially over the past few years, to become the ninth-largest Maine-based bank as of Sept. 30.
Last year, Kennebec Savings was No. 10 on a list of Maine-based banks in the 2022 Mainebiz Book of Lists; the 2023 edition will be published in late December.
The Portland area is a crowded marketplace.
TD Bank, Bank of America and KeyBank are the top three banks in Cumberland County, based on market share, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. numbers from June 30, 2022.
Of banks based in Maine, Bangor Savings, Camden National, Northeast Bank, Machias Savings, Norway Savings, Gorham Savings, Androscoggin Savings and others have a retail presence in Portland and surrounding Cumberland County. Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, the third-largest Maine-based bank, has a commercial loan office in Portland.
Kennebec Savings will service consumer and business customers at its future full-service Portland location, offering in-branch services and online and mobile solutions. The branch will provide commercial banking services as well as investment services.
Silsby said Kennebec Savings the space will undergo some renovations and planning work is underway to get city permitting and regulatory approvals.
He said the bank expects to initially hire six to eight people at the new location and expects that number to grow.
"With the added positions," he said, "the bank will be well over 200 employees in seven branches from Waterville to Portland."
Kennebec Savings Bank, founded in 1870, is a $1.6 billion state-chartered community bank, part of a mutual organization.
The new Baxter Boulevard branch will become the bank’s seventh location in the Pine Tree State, with others in Augusta, Farmingdale, Freeport, Waterville and Winthrop.
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