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December 6, 2019

Trademark FCU steps into community spotlight in South Portland

Courtesy / Anthony Muench Designed by Joseph DiDonato of JD Design Associates in Kennebunkport the new Trademark FCU branch will feature big glass windows to provide a sense of accessibility.
By Laurie Schreiber

Trademark Federal Credit Union is building a new branch in South Portland as a means to expand its visibility in the community.

The company bought 340 Main St., at Cash Corner, from GEC INC. for $505,000. Roxane Cole of Roxane Cole Commercial Real Estate LLC and Derek Miller of the Boulos Co. brokered the transaction.

The property included a 2,286-square-foot retail building and a 1,440-square-foot shed on a 0.51-acre lot. Plansinclude demolishing the existing structures and building new. The goal is to be operational by mid-June. The construction schedule is 30 weeks and has already started.

Cash Corner was a target area early on, said Cole, who represented Trademark.

“Putting up a nice, new building will add new energy to Cash Corner,” she said.

The seller behind GEC INC. is the Webber Group, which owned the property as an investment, said Miller. The property went on the market in October 2018 and received multiple offers, he said. 

High traffic count

Cash Corner’s amenities include good access via I-295 in addition to local traffic from Broadway and Main Street. 

“High traffic counts and plenty of households in the immediate area make for a strong stretch of retail,” Miller added.

Courtesy / Boulos Co.
Trademark Federal Credit Union bought 340 Main St., at Cash Corner in South Portland, in order to build its first branch available to the general community. Demolition of these existing structures began last month and the credit union’s new building will be going up.

Trademark FCU was formed in 1936, yet is not widely known, said its president and CEO, Joann Bisson.

That’s because it was founded specifically to serve employees of the Hannaford supermarket chain and of Central Maine Power Co., she explained.

According to its website, Trademark has its roots in the Great Depression, when people needed a safe and trusted place to deposit and borrow money. 

Two employee groups each started their own credit unions to fill that need. The employees of Cumberland County Power and Light created Cumberland County Power and Light Employees Federal Credit Union and the associates of Hannaford created Hannaford Associates Federal Credit Union. In 2010, the two credit unions merged and became Trademark Federal Credit Union. 

Up to now, its locations have been in or near Hannaford and CMP locations. One branch is inside Hannaford’s corporate headquarters in Scarborough, although Trademark has a separate entrance. In Augusta, Trademark has a branch near CMP’s Edison Drive offices and another inside of CMP’s building on Canco Road. Trademark serves other businesses as well.

“But the majority of our business come from Hannaford and CMP,” said Bisson.

Expanding membership

In 2018, Trademark opened its charter all residents of Cumberland, Kennebec and Sagadahoc counties. 

“This is our first step  toward making  our presence known in a high-visibility spot,” Bisson said of the South Portland site. “This allows us to do more for our communities.”

About nine months of research went into finding the right spot, she said. The research was grounded in data like where existing members are located and where a critical mass of new members might be. 

“We were looking for growth in population, for places where there weren’t other financial institution right next door,” she said.

Proximity to Hannaford's distribution center, less than a mile away, was also a factor in site selection.

“We have already heard from a handful of workers that they are excited to have such convenient access,” she added.

That led to Cash Corner, where demolition of the existing structures began last month. The new building was designed by Joseph DiDonato of JD Design Associates in Kennebunkport. The general contractor is Benchmark Construction in Westbrook.

The idea behind the design, said Bisson, is to provide an accessible style.

“There’s really not a lot of transparency behind what happens in financial institutions,” she said. “They’re usually very beautiful buildings, but  you don’t really know what goes on inside until you walk in. Our building is designed to have lot of transparency.” 

That includes a façade of tall windows facing the street and glassed offices inside. 

“There won’t be a closed-door mentality,” she said.

The goal is to open by late spring 2020.

Courtesy / Anthony Muench
Trademark Federal Credit Union expects to have its new branch operational by late spring 2020.

 

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