SKOWHEGAN, Maine — June 28, 2019 Skowhegan Savings announced today that it will celebrate its 150th anniversary with 11 customer appreciation events between July 11 and October 4, 2019. Each event will be held at one of the bank’s 11 branch locations or a nearby venue.
“When you mark a significant milestone like this, it’s easy to talk about all your successes but it’s really about the folks who helped get you where you are,” said John Witherspoon, CEO of Skowhegan Savings. “We were founded 150 years ago to support the local people and businesses of this region. As we honor this special time in the bank’s history, we wanted to focus our attention on our customers and our communities.”
“Over the next four months, we plan to show our customers how much we appreciate them with a series of fun events in each of the communities we serve,” continued David Cyr, president of the bank. “In our communities, our employees contribute numerous volunteer hours annually but during this celebratory year we decided that we really wanted to challenge ourselves to give back as an organization setting a goal to meet or exceed at least 150 additional volunteer days this year.”
A Storied History of Community Banking
Skowhegan Savings Bank was founded in October 1869, by a group of hardworking Mainers who wanted to support the growth of central and western Maine. One of the founders was Abner Coburn, a Skowhegan native, prominent businessman and Maine’s 30th Governor. The founders’ vision was to provide the community a safe place to deposit their hard-earned money and access to loans to buy and build houses.
In 1869, Skowhegan Savings had one location. Today, as a nearly $600 million mutual savings bank with a capital base of $87 million, the bank’s footprint includes 11 physical branch locations servicing more than 35,000 customers throughout the state and beyond. As a mutual bank, Skowhegan Savings pays dividends to the community in the form of economic and community development rather than to individual stockholders. In further support of its mission to help the region grow and prosper, the bank established the Skowhegan Charitable Foundation in 2011, which exceeded $2 million in assets in 2018. The bank’s most recent innovation, tied to helping support regional growth, was last year’s development of a venture capital fund to invest in local business in Western Maine. Over the last 12 years, the bank has been recognized for its commitment and support of career readiness and financial literacy programs. In 2013, the bank was awarded the national honor of the ‘Corporate Above and Beyond’ by Jobs for American Graduates.
“We’ve come a long way in the last 150 years, but our vision to help our communities and the people that live here continue to grow and prosper remains the same as our founders,” said Witherspoon. “We will continue to be your community banker and believe that despite the technological advances of the past 150 years, the value of a personal banking relationship with someone of integrity, who genuinely cares about your well-being is even more important today and will ensure the success of the bank, our customers and our communities for the next 150 years.”
Skowhegan Savings Bank’s 150th anniversary celebration kicks off with an event at Unity College’s Sky Lodge in Jackman on July 11 and concludes at the bank’s main office in Skowhegan on October 4. During the four-month celebration, event goers will be treated to delicious food served up by some of the area’s finest food trucks, music from popular local musicians, giveaways and a variety of family-friendly activities.
