Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 23 N OV E M B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 8 C ommercial banking in Portland is revved up for its next act with two industry stalwarts — one global, one from Downeast — setting up new offices and teams here. One is JPMorgan Chase & Co., the U.S. market leader with $2.6 tril- lion in assets, which is on a major branch-expansion tear into new markets. In Portland it hired 20-year industry veteran Michael Griffin, most recently with Citizens Financial Group Inc., as a new middle-market banking executive director. e other is Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, Maine's third-largest bank and the only one with a presence in three New England states but no retail branch in Maine's biggest city. It hired former NBT Bank executives Daryl Wentworth and Joe Delano to open a new commercial loan office in Portland. Both institutions have newly planted flags in the Old Port, JPMorgan at 111 Commercial St. and Bar Harbor Bank & Trust at 75 Market St. ey're geared up to take on entrenched rivals with bold client development and hiring plans, and for what one JPMorgan executive sees as a battle of endurance. "It's a fist-fight out there," says Richard J. MacDonald, the Boston- based managing director for middle- market banking who hired Griffin. He says while he knows it'll be tough trying to win new business, JPMorgan is here to stay. "We'll be in the fray as long as we need to be," he says. Curtis Simard, Bar Harbor Bank's president and CEO, is equally psyched about having a Portland presence with a commercial lending "calling-card." "We're a long way from being done in terms of our growth and brand expansion efforts," Simard says. While JPMorgan has had clients in Maine for about 10 years, and a Boston commercial banking office that opened seven years ago, having a Portland presence is part of a company-wide push into new markets. "ough they're a large bank, they have the ability to focus on middle- market customers," Gerard Cassidy, a Portland-based banking analyst with RBC Capital Markets, says of JPMorgan. "I would certainly expect them to be a very viable competitor in this marketplace. It's good for con- sumers and it's good for business to have an additional competitor such as a JPMorgan Chase." A competitive landscape With JPMorgan's arrival, the nation's three largest banks now have a pres- ence in Portland. e others are Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo, which opened a commercial banking office in Portland in 2016. Raymond T. (Chip) Kelley, KeyBank's Maine market president, sees JPMorgan's move as a testament to the health of Maine's economy, "stronger and deeper" than at any time during his 30-year- plus banking career. "Capital follows success and we've had a great run during this most P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY F O C U S C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » Commercial lending's next act More banks enter Portland market amid bold growth ambitions B y r e n e e c o r d e S Michael Griffin, executive director of middle market banking for JPMorgan Chase Bank, which is one of the institutions making a push into the Portland commercial lending market. DEPOSIT MARKET SHARE OF BANKS IN THE PORTLAND-SOUTH PORTLAND METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREA S O U R C E : Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.; numbers through June 30, 2018 Most bankers give up after just a few calls because they haven't sold something, when statistically you're into the seventh call before you're actually delivering something you can get paid for. You have to be very persistent. — Michael Griffin JPMorgan Chase & Co. TD Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.87% Bank of America . . . . . . . 14.77% KeyBank . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.04% People's United Bank. . . . . 7.49% Kennebunk Savings Bank . . 6.61% Gorham Savings Bank . . . . 6.39% Bangor Savings Bank. . . . . 5.62% 14 others . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.23%

• Cover