Photo / Tim Greenway
Daniel Walsh, head of Norway Savings Bank, says the bank’s first foray into New Hampshire, in North Conway, is a natural extension of its presence on the Route 302 corridor.
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Updated: 7 hours ago
Banking and Finance
Maine banks ‘bank’ on New Hampshire's market opportunities and a similar culture
Photo / Tim Greenway
The new Norway Savings Bank branch in North Conway, N.H.
A number of Maine-based banks have been expanding into New Hampshire in recent years, opening branches there or acquiring Granite State counterparts.
The goal is to broaden markets and serve existing New Hampshire customers, while remaining close to the Maine base.
Then there’s a case to be made for similar operating environments. “The business environment in northern New England may be more familiar to bankers in Maine, so expanding into New Hampshire and Vermont is perhaps a more comfortable fit than expanding into Boston and Massachusetts,” says Jim Roche, president of the Maine Bankers Association in Westbrook.
First foray
Norway Savings Bank is making its first foray into New Hampshire with construction of a full-service branch at 11 Commercial Drive in North Conway, about an hour’s drive from the bank’s Norway headquarters.
The branch, part of a 126-acre development called Ridgeline Community, is expected to open in May, says Daniel Walsh, Norway Savings’ president and CEO. “It’s a great location,” he says.
The location follows Norway Savings’ footprint along the Route 302 corridor, where it has branches in Windham, Naples, Bridgton and Fryeburg, and soon some 10 miles down the road to North Conway. “For us, it’s a natural extension of the presence we have on the Route 302 corridor,” says Walsh.
Norway Savings already has a presence in the Granite State. “We have clients who have lived and worked in New Hampshire for a long time,” he says. “We’re saying, ‘Okay, we have this great opportunity and a superior location.’ So it makes good sense to establish the branch in New Hampshire.”
The location is expected to provide the Maine bank with exposure to the market in Mount Washington Valley communities to the north of Conway. “It will attract a lot of new clients,” he says. “I think that market is a great opportunity for us.”
Plans include a comfortable seating area with a fireplace, a community room for nonprofits and other groups to use and several customer service offices. Rather than a traditional teller line, there will be an open environment with service stations. There will also be a two-lane drive-through and ATM.
Construction includes energy-efficient technology such as LED lighting, an energy-recovery unit to recycle the heat from exhaust air, heat pump technology, thermal and spray-foam insulation beyond code-required levels for maximum efficiency, and three-phase power to provide more efficient operation of the HVAC equipment and power.
Norway Savings takes its expansions at a deliberate pace. It last opened a new branch about 10 years ago, in Gray. The bank looks for organic growth and any acquisition would have to be the right strategic fit.
Staffing includes a branch manager, mortgage loan officer and commercial lender who are existing Norway Savings employees and have a track record of working with residents and businesses there. It will hire the remainder of the staff locally.
“When we go into a community, we’re hiring people who live there,” he says. “We want to own our locations. We want to put down roots.”
Increased value
Earlier this year, Bar Harbor Bankshares (NYSE: BHB) signed a definitive agreement to acquire Guaranty Bancorp Inc. (OTC: GUAA) in New Hampshire. The deal is going through regulatory and Guaranty shareholder approvals.
Bar Harbor Bankshares is the parent company of Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, which already has 21 branches in New Hampshire. Guaranty Bancorp is the parent company of Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank in New Hampshire.
The deal would expand Bar Harbor Bank & Trust’s presence in New Hampshire and would increase its value from $4 billion in assets to approximately $5 billion. (In addition, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust Wealth Management has over $3.3 billion in assets under management.)
“Woodsville operates in markets similar to ours and adjacent to our northwestern New Hampshire and Vermont locations, making this a natural fit,” says Curtis Simard, president and CEO of Bar Harbor Bank & Trust.
Photo / Courtesy of Bar Harbor Bank & Trust
Curtis Simard, head of Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, says the recently acquired Woodsville Guaranty Savings Banking in New Hampshire operates in markets similar to BHBT.
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust is the only Maine-based bank with a presence in all three states of northern New England, with 53 total branches in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont (62 after the acquisition). The merger is targeted to be completed in the second half of 2025.
Founded in 1889, Woodsville operates nine full-service branches and one loan production office. It reported $456 million in net loans and $530 million in deposits as of Dec. 31, 2024.
“Partnering with Bar Harbor Bank & Trust allows us to build on that tradition while gaining access to enhanced resources that will strengthen our ability to serve the region,” James Graham, president and CEO of Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank, has said.
Graham will be appointed to Bar Harbor’s board of directors. “Woodsville’s deep customer relationships, strong asset quality and cultural alignment with our organization make for a winning partnership,” says Simard.
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust first entered the New Hampshire market in 2017 with the acquisition of Newport, N.H. -based Lake Sunapee Bank Group in an all-stock deal valued at around $143 million, adding 35 branches in New Hampshire and Vermont.
The move was a first for a Maine-based bank in some time and the first of the recent wave of expansion into New Hampshire, Simard says.
Simard arrived at BHBT in 2013 with a mission to grow the Downeast-headquartered bank, “as we were sort of locked in the upper right hand corner of the state with limited growth opportunities,” he said at the time.
Like Roche, Simard agrees there are cultural similarities that make expansion into New Hampshire a natural fit. “We feel that Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are similar in how we look at life,” Simard says. “We’re not all from Boston. We like the outdoors. We understand tourism and the working waterfront. We feel like we all ‘get’ each other.”
16-branch acquisition
Earlier this year, Camden National Corp. (Nasdaq: CAC) completed its acquisition of Northway Financial, Inc. (OTCQB: NWYF), the parent company of Northway Bank, headquartered in Berlin, N.H.
The merger formed a combined institution with assets of just over $7 billion, up from $5.6 billion pre-merger, and 73 branches across Maine and New Hampshire.
Photo / Courtesy of Camden National Bank
Simon Griffiths of Camden National Corp. says the acquisition of Northway Bank’s 16 branches in New Hampshire expands on the bank’s existing foothold in Manchester and Portsmouth.
The all-stock deal gave Camden National 16 branches in North Conway, Laconia, Bedford, Concord and Portsmouth, N.H., expanding its retail presence on its existing loan-office foothold in Manchester and branch in Portsmouth, established in 2014 and 2018 respectively.
The Northway acquisition expands the market, leverages technology investments at a greater scale and provides convenience for Maine customers with New Hampshire connections, says Simon Griffiths, president and CEO of Camden National.
“Camden National and Northway share a similar culture, consistent credit and risk profiles, and deep commitment to the communities we serve,” Griffiths has said. “This union will increase our size and scale, and bolster our presence in New Hampshire, which we believe will drive profitability and shareholder value.”
Supporting commercial customers
Machias Savings Bank is making its first foray into New Hampshire with plans to open a branch in an existing building at Manchester’s City Hall Plaza, adding to its 15 Maine-based branches from Portland to Caribou.
The bank expects to staff the location with six to eight full-time employees. It’s Machias Savings’ first location outside of Maine.
“Formally it’s a branch. But based on the location and the bank’s existing relationships in New Hampshire, we anticipate servicing mostly business customers in that region,” says Jay Hood, Machias Savings’ chief lending officer.
Photo / Courtesy of Machias Savings Bank
Jay Hood says Machias Savings Bank’s first branch in New Hampshire builds on the bank’s service to business customers.
The center is on the seventh floor of a large commercial building in downtown Manchester and, as such, looks different from a traditional retail branch. The branch received regulatory approval by the FDIC on April 3. The target opening date is June 1.
“We’ve been supporting commercial customers in New Hampshire for a decade,” says Hood. “We see this as an opportunity to continue on that mission.”
Machias Savings takes a measured approach to expansion. “Before we opened our office in Portland, we’d been growing our Portland customer base for a decade — then decided it was time to put boots on the ground,” says Hood. “Our brand been well received in New Hampshire. We felt it was time and the talent was available to put resources close to our customer base there.”
Photos / Courtesy of Machias Savings Bank
Machias Savings Bank’s first New Hampshire location is on the seventh floor of 900 Elm St. in Manchester.
The turnkey office in New Hampshire’s largest city, about 90 minutes from Machias Savings’ Portland office, made it a strategic location as a business-focused branch with a commercial emphasis easily supported from Maine, he says.
Further expansion plans? “It took us 10 years to enter Portland and 10 years to enter New Hampshire,” Hood says with a laugh. “We’re a community bank. So we’ll take our time, do this right and continue to evaluate from there.”
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