Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I N O. X X V I I I B A N K I N G / F I N A N C E / I N S U R A N C E N orway Savings Bank's first female president and CEO recently became its first female board chair, with plans to serve on the board well past retirement. Patricia Weigel, who has been at the helm of the western Maine-based mutual bank since 2011, recently stepped down as president but will stay on as CEO until she retires in December 2021. While she grooms newly promoted President Dan Walsh for the CEO job, Weigel says she will stay on the board as long as she can, cognizant of being a role model for younger women. "I take the responsibility seriously," says Weigel, whose 40-year banking career began as an entry- level teller. "Younger women are watching, and I want to make sure that I'm continuing to pave the way for other women who follow." at includes bringing greater diversity to the board, which is currently made up of two women and nine men. "We don't have a target in mind nec- essarily," Weigel says, "but we do have some retire- ments coming up in a few years, so of course we're starting to proactively think about what that will look like and potentially bringing in more females is definitely on the radar." Norway Savings isn't the only Maine bank taking a more strategic approach to board diver- sity — gender and otherwise — not just to better reflect their local customer base and employees, but because it also makes good business sense. ere's even mathematical proof that banks with a "critical level" of diversity on their boards perform better, as shown in a 2019 Federal Reserve staff report. Maine's two female bank CEOs Among Maine-based banks, Weigel is the only female CEO among the top 10 by market share and one of only two women at the helm of the top 25 in terms of assets. e other is Jeanne Hulit of Maine Community Bank, who feels just as strongly about blazing a trail for younger peers. "I don't feel it's a burden. I feel like it's an honor," says Hulit, who led this year's merger of Biddeford Savings and Mechanics Savings banks into divisions of Maine Community Bank, with a merged board. "It's an opportunity to dispel a lot of preconceived notions that people may have about women in leadership." In banking for more than 25 years, Hulit says she had no female mentors when she started, and that the women in senior roles at that time were mainly those who didn't have children and devoted them- selves entirely to their careers. F O C U S P H O T O S / T I M G R E E N WAY Jeanne Hulit is president and CEO of Maine Community Bank. She is one of four women on the bank's 13-member board. B y r e n e e C o r d e s Patricia Weigel stepped down as president of Norway Savings Bank and was named board chair. She will stay on as CEO until she retires in December 2021. N O V E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 2 0 20 I don't feel it's a burden. I feel like it's an honor. It's an opportunity to dispel a lot of preconceived notions that people may have about women in leadership. — Jeanne Hulit Maine Community Bank on WOMEN Banking Maine banks get more strategic about gender balance on boards

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