CEO and Chairman's Report
To Our Valued Members,
Maine Savings’ history and roots are firmly established in this beautiful state we call Maine. Our entire focus is on our members and ensuring that we meet each and every one where they are in their financial journey. We strive to provide the best products and services, the most compassionate employees, who are focused on member service, and we are committed to improving the financial well-being of our members.
We offer loan products that meet the needs of our members. These range from our Helping Hand loan, a commercial loan for a business member, an auto loan for a member to get to their first job, and a home loan for first time homebuyers. Our dedicated loan officers are eager and ready to meet in-person with our members to partner in their loan journey. We are grateful for the support from CUSO Home Lending and Business Lending Solutions, two trusted partners, who help us offer diverse loan products. We continue to offer home loans through our own mortgage division with its team of professional, experienced, and dedicated mortgage loan officers. Our commitment to meeting our business member needs resulted in us starting our own commercial loan division. We are proud to serve you, our members, more completely.
The services we provide to our members go beyond those offered by traditional banking establishments and embrace the core motto of credit unions: people helping people. We continue to offer insurance to our members, in partnership with One Maine Insurance, and financial investment advice and assistance in partnership with Maine Wealth Planning. We now offer financial counseling services to our members through the dedicated commitment of our employees who are Certified Credit Union Financial Counselors. We have 12 employees who have earned this designation and others have enrolled and work towards graduation, ensuring that we continue to meet the needs of our members and communities.
Our employees are compassionate members of our communities and give of their time, talent and treasure to volunteer. They find joy in donating their time and talent and find the work they do rewarding. Maine Savings launched its first Volunteerism Program this year and has awarded each employee with 16 hours annually to volunteer in the communities we serve. This commitment ensures that each employee is afforded the same opportunities to help our members and communities.
Our commitment to the communities we serve is expanding with the recent addition of two community focused positions: growth and development, and engagement and impact. Both employees have worked at Maine Savings for many years and in an ongoing effort to align passion with strengths, it simply made sense.
We continue to be proud of the Maine Savings Amphitheatre, which begins its second season later this month. The Amp has made and continues to make an impressive impact in the Bangor Region. We are pleased to see it have a greater involvement in the community this year.
Our pledge to member education is unwavering. We will award this year ten (10) $1,500 scholarships to our college-bound young adult members. Investing in the next generation is how we honor our promise to improving the lives of our members.
Positively impacting lives is at our core and is best exemplified by our vow to ending hunger in Maine. Whether through member education, branch fundraising efforts, and/or contributing our own money through payroll deduction, we work diligently to ensure fewer Mainers have to choose between paying their bills and putting food on the table. We are grateful to all of you for your support in this initiative. In 2022, Maine Savings earned 4th place in the state raising $45,431.51 to help end hunger. All of the proceeds raised by our employees and members go directly back into the communities we have the privilege to serve.
Our community commitments extend to non-profits that receive charitable donations throughout the year, and while we cannot list them all here, it is important to note that the impact is significant. We continue to be asked to help those non-profit partners who meet the needs of so many in the communities we serve.
The financial health of Maine Savings is essential for our safety, soundness, and longevity. In 2022 we had substantial growth in loans and deposits, which propelled our assets to exceed $600 Million, simply outstanding! The financial strength ensures continued growth, diverse product offerings, beyond banking services, community investment, and charitable giving.
In closing, thank you to our dedicated and compassionate employees, our loyal and grateful members, our supportive and engaging volunteer officials, our board of directors and the members of our supervisory committee. The success of Maine Savings is made possible because of each and every one of you. It is an honor, a blessing, and a privilege to be the leader of this magnificent credit union that we call home.
Respectfully, Vanessa Madore, CEO/President Don Grant, Chairman