Bangor Savings Bank CEO to retire, ‘successor-elect’ named

Feb. 25--BANGOR, Maine -- Bangor Savings Bank on Tuesday morning announced the retirement of its CEO, James Conlon, and named a successor who will next year take the reins of Maine's largest locally owned bank.

Conlon, who has worked at Bangor Savings Bank for nearly 20 years, including nine as CEO, will retire on June 1, 2015, according to a news release.

The bank's board of directors named Robert S. Montgomery-Rice, a 10-year veteran of the bank and currently its chief operations officer, as "successor-elect" at its meeting on Monday.

Bangor Savings Bank is the largest Maine-based bank in the state. As of June 30, 2013, it had nearly $2.2 billion in deposits, which constitutes 5.73 percent of the statewide market, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Conlon, who has spent more than 30 years in the financial services industry, joined Bangor Savings Bank in 1996 as its senior lender. He became CEO in June 2005, and received the title of president the next year.

His retirement plans have been in the works for at least 18 months, Carol Colson, the bank's senior vice president for marketing and community relations, told the Bangor Daily News on Tuesday morning.

"He's retiring for no other reason than he's just ready," she said.

Conlon will retain his seat on the bank's board of directors after his retirement.

"I'm very pleased that I'm not completely leaving the bank, but will remain connected through ongoing board service," Conlon said in a statement. "This is a special place and while I'm looking forward to retirement and spending more time with family, I feel fortunate to be able to stay involved in this capacity."

The board has focused on selecting a successor for the past 18 months. It did not consider external candidates for the position of the bank's new CEO, instead choosing to promote from within.

"We were fortunate to have some incredibly talented internal candidates," Gena Canning, the board's vice chairwoman, said in a statement. "As a result, we chose not to look at external options, and instead focused our time and energy on a thorough consideration of several strong internal leaders."

Montgomery-Rice joined Bangor Savings Bank in 2004. Before joining the bank he held various senior and executive roles at companies such as BankBoston, Cambridgeport Bank and Fidelity Investments. As Bangor Savings Bank's chief operations officer, Montgomery-Rice currently oversees consumer banking, information technology and real estate management.

He will immediately assume an interim role as chief operating officer and work with Conlon over the next year to prepare for the transition.

"Bob and I already have a strong working relationship, with similar respect for the stewardship responsibility of this role," Conlon said in a statement. "I have full confidence that the coming year will produce an effective and successful leadership transition."

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