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Kennebec Savings Bank
PHOTO by Todd Wentworth
President & CEO Andrew Silsby presents Southern Kennebec Child Development Corporation with a $30,000 Catalyst Grant in 2018.
Photo by Jenna Pederson
Kennebec Savings Bank employees support the MaineGeneral 2018 Walk for Hope.
Photo by Jenna Pederson
Kennebec Savings Bank employees volunteer at the 2018 Chili Chowder Challenge Fundraiser.
A Culture of Community Giving
The Colonial Theater in Augusta is a venerable institution built in 1913. Featuring Georgian Revival details with hints of Art Deco, it was for decades a lively center of entertainment.
By the 1960s, the advent of multiplex cinema was putting grand old theaters out of business. The Colonial fell into disrepair as roof leaks allowed water and birds into the building, causing significant damage.
In the 1990s, the community came together to save this gorgeous structure, in honor of its place both as an important part of Augusta’s past and of the nation’s early film industry. The nonprofit Colonial Theater Inc. (later renamed Augusta Colonial Theater, Inc.) succeeded in having it placed on the National Register of Historic Places and Maine Preservation’s list of Most Endangered Historic Resources, and then commissioned a structural assessment and major structural repairs.
Kennebec Savings Bank became involved in this effort early on. Bank President & CEO Andrew Silsby joined the nonprofit’s board and initiated the bank’s donation of $100,000 to fix the floor.
“We found that donors were having a difficult time seeing the building’s potential because there was a crater in the floor,” Silsby says. “Now the floor and the roof are fixed. The building is still in rough shape, but donors are coming in. They’re now able to picture the building’s potential.”
Kennebec Savings Bank’s role in The Colonial Theater project is just one example of the bank’s commitment to community. Community giving, in both dollars and volunteer hours, is central to the bank’s culture.
“Because of our role in the community, people often want us involved in their campaigns early on,” Silsby explains. “And people tell me often that our involvement is an endorsement of sorts: Our presence helps to bring in other donors. People know us as one of the early stops in their campaigns. That’s our quiet leadership role in the community.”
Key community members
Community banks such as Kennebec Savings Bank are key to the economic and social vitality of small businesses and local communities.
Community banks play an essential role in ensuring local socio-economic vitality across the nation. According to a recent Federal Reserve survey, small businesses that borrow from community banks tend to be more satisfied than when they borrow from megabanks or online lenders.
Kennebec Saving Bank takes its role in this lively banking sector seriously, offering unrivaled customer service and unparalleled impact on the communities it serves.
Involvement in the community is a central mission at Kennebec Savings Bank. As a mutually held savings bank, and as individual volunteers, Kennebec Savings Bank’s leadership and employees take pride in giving back in meaningful ways to the neighborhoods in which they work and raise their families.
Annually, the Bank gives 10% of its income back to the community. In 2018, through the Bank’s Community Dividends program, more than $810,000 was donated to over 300 nonprofits across 35 communities; employees put in over 9,000 volunteer hours. For 2019, the Bank is committed to donating $1 million.
In 2018, the Independent Community Bankers of America recognized Kennebec Savings Bank as 1 of 3 banks to receive a National Community Service Award for its efforts to effect change. That same year, Forbes recognized Kennebec Savings Bank as the Best Bank in State.
In states like Maine, which has many rural towns, local communities would not be the same without their local bank. Community banks support little leagues, civic organizations, local libraries, and more.
Origins
Kennebec Savings Bank is a state-chartered community bank, part of a mutual organization, with a team of 140 employees. The Bank was incorporated in 1870, in the midst of Augusta’s great boom as a center for textile and paper manufacturing. Augusta’s downtown was a hub of activity; Water Street was lined with clothing stores, hotels, pharmacies, and horse stables. In fact, one of Kennebec Savings Bank’s early locations was in an old opera house of the time.
Kennebec Savings Bank was incorporated by an Act signed into law by Governor Joshua L. Chamberlain. In his address to the to the Maine Legislature, Governor Chamberlain spoke to the need to provide a savings outlet for Augusta citizens.
“The moment he has money in the bank, the humblest feels a bracing up of his self-respect and whole moral force,” Chamberlain said. “From that moment springs an incentive to industry, frugality, temperance, enterprise; to all, in fact, which constitutes good citizenship, and advances the character and condition of men.”
“I care deeply about this community. We’re focused on our own backyards and our own communities. As community bankers, we work and live here.”
— Andrew Silsby, Kennebec Savings Bank President & CEO
Good citizenship
Today, serving the people of Central Maine, the Bank continues to embody that spirit of “good citizenship” through its core values — excellence in service, teamwork, and community.
For Silsby and his team, these ideas are personal. A ninth-generation Mainer on his mother’s side and seventh generation on his father’s, he grew up a stone’s throw from the Kennebec Savings Bank headquarters.
“I care deeply about this community,” he says. “We’re focused on our own backyards and our own communities. As community bankers, we work and live here. For me, it means the world to be in these communities and to know that we had a hand in so many projects. Whether it’s a loan to help a small business get off the ground, an expansion of an existing business, getting someone into their first home, or through the donation side of this institution, we’ve been able to help people and organizations accomplish their goals. This might sounds corny, but we’re all about fulfilling people’s dreams. People come in and they have an idea, but they might not know how to get from point A to point B. We work hard to make that happen. And the satisfaction of being able to help them is unbelievable.”
The Bank’s employees are equally engaged.
“These are folks who care deeply about their community,” Silsby continues. “They’re involved in raising money for various causes. We had a team of employees who did the Mutt Strut recently, out there with their dogs to raise money for the Kennebec Valley Humane Society and before that, the Walk for Hope for MaineGeneral.”
Key initiatives
Throughout its long history, one thing has remained constant — Kennebec Savings Bank’s unwavering commitment to the communities it serves. As a mutually held savings bank, and as individual volunteers, the Bank takes pride in giving back in meaningful ways to the neighborhoods in which leadership and employees work and raise their families.
Considering the size of Kennebec Savings Bank, the Bank makes up a considerable portion of overall philanthropy from Maine’s banking industry.
- In recent years, the giving community has begun to focus on capacity-building — providing fledgling nonprofits and those looking to expand receive an influx of funds that allow them to broaden their impact. In keeping with that push, Kennebec Savings Bank’s Community Dividends program focuses on local organizations, supporting more than 300 organizations in Kennebec County and the greater Freeport area. The Bank’s online Community Dividends request portal allows you to log in at your convenience and manage your organization’s requests for support. Once you create your profile, you can choose from a variety of applications, including: Donations and Sponsorship, Advertising Requests, and the Bank’s Catalyst Grant.
- Many nonprofit organizations have creative concepts floating around that they might have set aside due to lack of funds. Kennebec Savings Bank helps bring those ideas to life. Each year, the Bank’s Catalyst Grant program awards several $30,000 grants, over three years, to two local nonprofit organizations, to help them achieve their goals and build capacity. Among results achieved by grantees in recent years, the program has helped bring dental care to hundreds of youth, provided items to households in need, and served transportation needs in Kennebec and Somerset counties. The 2019 Catalyst Grant Applications will be accepted through Aug. 31, through the Kennebec Savings Bank website.
“Community banking truly puts ‘community’ in banking,” concludes Silsby. “The health of the community is paramount in our focus.”
