Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I I I N O. V I I I A P R I L 1 8 , 2 0 2 2 10 B U S I N E S S M A I N E B U S I N E S S M A I N E B U S I N E S S N E W S F RO M A RO U N D T H E S TAT E Bank branch in Buckfield to close Northeast Bank (Nasdaq: NBN) plans to close its branch in Buckfield, leaving the Oxford town of 2,000 without a retail banking location. e Portland- based bank notified the Maine Bureau of Financial Institutions of plans to close the branch located at 2 Depot St. in Buckfield. e timing of the closure was not disclosed. e nearest other Northeast branch is in South Paris, about 10 miles away. Northeast also operates branches in Auburn, Augusta, Bethel, Brunswick, Poland and Portland. e bank, founded in 1872 in Bethel, had assets of $1.46 billion as of Dec. 31, 2021. Northeast employs more than 180 people. N O T E W O R T H Y C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N Maine State Credit Union in Augusta said it donated $100,000 to the Normand R. Dubreuil scholarship fund at the Maine Community College System and Maine Maritime Academy. A Deer Isle inn sold e Pilgrim's Inn on Deer Isle sold recently for $1.42 million to Albert and Lindsay Schmurr, a couple from Missouri that plans to move to Maine full-time. ey bought the inn, at 20 Main St., from Nicole Neder and Scott Hall for $1.42 million. Dana Moos of Swan Agency brokered the deal. e inn consists of three cottages, each with an independent entrance, and the main building with 12 guest rooms. Winter Harbor spice maker wins pitch competition A Winter Harbor producer of barbecue dry rubs is planning to expand customer outreach and production space after tak- ing home the judge's prize for top con- tender in the second annual Downeast Business Bootcamp Pitch Off. Bub 'n Mutha's was founded by John Fuhrman. His products use natural spices and ingredients from Maine companies like Raye's Mustard, Maine Maple and Coffee Hound, and can be found in 71 stores in seven states. e pitch-off competition was held for businesses in Washington and Hancock counties. Bub 'n Mutha's went up against four other Downeast entrepreneurs to take home the first-place prize of $5,000. Fuhrman said he plans to use his winnings to attend public events to expand his cus- tomer base and to cover a year's rent at the Union River Center for Innovation, a business incubator in Ellsworth. N O T E W O R T H Y M I D C O A S T & D O W N E A S T A bill in Congress would create a na- tional heritage area in Downeast Maine. The designation would give an economic boost to rural Washington and Hancock counties and help create jobs, according to Maine's Congressional delegation. Bangor museum names interim director Maine Discovery Museum, a children's museum in Bangor, has named Kate Dickerson as interim executive direc- tor, succeeding outgoing Executive Director Niles Parker. Parker recently said that he will begin a similar position in mid-May at the Nantucket Historical Association in Massachusetts. Dickerson is the founder and director of the Maine Science Festival, a program of the Maine Discovery Museum. Bangor plans test kitchen e city of Bangor plans to create a col- laborative, commercial kitchen space for entrepreneurs in the food and beverage industry with the help of $1.1 million in federal grants and other funds. e project, tentatively called Central Kitchen-Bangor, will be located at 50 Cleveland St. in a 5,000-square-foot renovated site. Steve Bolduc, economic development officer for the city of Bangor, said the kitchen would be open to startups in the food- and-beverage industry and have "a close relationship to the agricultural produc- ers in the Bangor region." e goal is to have the project underway later this year. N O T E W O R T H Y N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N ERA Dawson Bradford Co. Realtors in Bangor announced that it acquired ERA Cousens Realty in Rockland. B I Z M O N E Y As customers switch to apps, banks look for new ways to provide customer service B y P e t e r V a n A l l e n I n the past two years, many bank customers made the shift to digital banking, adopting apps at a blistering pace. Nearly half of bank customers nationwide now have a "digital-centric" relationship with their bank, a new study by J.D. Power shows. But with rising inflation and a rapidly changing economy, many banking customers are seeing an increase in finan- cial stress, leaving banks scrambling for ways to deliver a "meaningful customer experience," according to the "2022 U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study.". "A customer's definition of what support from their retail bank looks like is changing rapidly as we enter a new eco- nomic cycle and move further along the digital adoption curve," said Jennifer White, senior consultant of banking intelligence at J.D. Power. "It's no longer predominately about being fast, efficient or convenient," she added. "The preeminent performance metric with the biggest influence on customer satisfaction is 'supporting the customer during challenging times,' and that means customers are expecting a personalized mix of financial advice, hands-on help with problem resolution and guidance on how to grow their money." J.D. Power said banks face the "twin forces" of digital transformation and rising inflation. The study says banks have struggled to deliver on customer expectations for personalization as nearly half of customers have now moved to pri- marily digital-centric bank- ing relationships. Other key findings: Customers like it when a bank supports them "during challenging economic times," and customers in turn are less likely to switch banks in times like this. Despite that, only 44% of banks are delivering on that support right now. While banks perform particularly well on traditional cus- tomer engagement metrics such as people, digital chan- nels and overall trust, satisfaction scores are lowest for helping retail bank customers save time or money. Although customers who pay bank fees (e.g., overdraft or low balance fees) are three times more likely to con- sider switching banks, only 61% either do not know or are unsure whether their bank has made any changes to their overdraft fee policy. When asked how they would like their bank to person- alize their banking experience, 46% of customers say they want help in avoiding fees and 37% say they want to receive account alerts. J.D. Powers measured satisfaction across seven factors (in order of importance): trust; people; account offerings; allowing customers to bank how and when they want; saving time and money; digital channels; and resolving problems or complaints.The study looked at 15 U.S. regions. In New England, Maine's largest bank, Bangor Savings Bank, tied for the highest score, 722 (out of 1,000), along with Rockland Trust in Massachusetts. A Texas bank, Frost, had the highest customer satisfac- tion score, earning a score of 755. M I D C O A S T & D O W N E A S T N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N

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