Maine Small Business Administration honors Bangor Savings Bank as ‘Top Lender for 2011’

    AUGUSTA — At its annual awards luncheon today, the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Maine District Office recognized Bangor Savings Bank as the top lender in three categories in 2011: Top Performing 7(a) Lender, Overall Top Dollar Volume Lender and Top Performing Third Party Lender. In 2011, Bangor Savings Bank provided nearly $15 million in loans to 68 new or existing small businesses. This was the first time a single lending institution was honored for leading in all categories.
    “Our bank is fully committed to the Maine community, and we recognize the important role we play in serving as a partner to hundreds of small businesses throughout our state. These are Main Street businesses and they are the backbone of our economy,” remarked Jim Conlon, President and CEO of Bangor Savings Bank.
    One of those small businesses is Black Dinah Chocolatiers, owned and operated by Kate and Steve Shaffer. Black Dinah Chocolatiers creates handmade chocolate truffles and other chocolate confectionaries that are sold in their Isle Au Haut café and shipped all over the world. The Shaffers were presented with the Home-Based Small Business Champion Award by the SBA to honor their outstanding business growth, particularly given the challenges of Black Dinah’s coastal island location.
    Steve Shaffer, Black Dinah Chocolatiers’ CEO, acknowledged the role Bangor Savings Bank has had in Black Dinah’s success.  “From the beginning, Bangor Savings Bank has gone out of their way to work with us. After visiting us and listening to our plans, (Regional Market Manager) Skip Bates became an important ally in helping us achieve our goals, which was no easy task.  With the support of Bangor savings Bank, our business is thriving,” said Steve Shaffer.
    According to data released by the Small Business Administration’s Maine District Office, Bangor Savings Bank was also the overall top lender during the first quarter of 2012.  Between January 1 and March 31, 2012, Bangor Savings made 19 small business loans totaling more than $2 million.
    Bangor Savings Bank has provided approximately $200 million in new small business loans since April of 2008. The Bank also has about $23 million in SBA loan balances that are helping start or grow Maine’s small businesses.
    The SBA’s definition of a small business is one employing less than 500 workers.  According to 2008 data, there are 147,484 small businesses in Maine, accounting for 59.7% of private sector jobs in the state.
    “As Maine’s largest independent bank, Bangor Savings Bank makes every effort to lend money to businesses, even as the downturn in the economy has made it more difficult to borrow important capital. It makes the entire Bangor Savings Bank team very proud to support so many small businesses and to watch the results of our partnerships,” said Conlon.