MDI Hospital Business Friend Invests in the Health of MDI
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust has been in the business of building community relationships for over a century here on Mount Desert Island. Founded in 1887, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust offers a full-range of financial services for individuals, families, businesses, and non-profit organizations, including a Trust Services department that provides trust administration, investment management, and financial advisory services.
“We’re very much a community bank, connected with the local people,” explains Joseph M. Pratt, President of Bar Harbor Trust Services. “For the most part in Trust Services, we work with individual customers and their families. Typically, these are clients who have accumulated some assets, whether business or financial, and now they’re starting to give thought to how to transition into retirement or how to transfer assets to future generations – to their kids and grandkids – or planned gifts for the benefit of non-profit organizations.”
“Our clients tell us they are comforted knowing that if they need help with something, the bank is right next door,” says Joe. “Our clients prefer to meet in person with a familiar face who lives right here in their community.”
Melanie Bowden, Vice President and Wealth Manager for Bar Harbor Trust Services, is one of those familiar faces. Melanie moved to Mount Desert Island from Denver, Colorado when she was in middle school. “My family came to visit, and the next thing you know, we moved. I went away to college in Vermont, but quickly realized I needed to be near the water, so I came back,” she laughs.
Melanie has worked at Bar Harbor Bank & Trust for nearly 34 years. “I’d have to say that the people who work at the bank are the reason I’ve been here as long as I have,” she explains. “I am grateful to live and work in a true, caring community. If a family is having a crisis, everybody on MDI rolls up their sleeves to help. You just don’t get that everywhere these days.”
MDI Hospital is deeply grateful to Bar Harbor Bank & Trust for being a part of our caring community. “For a relatively small community like MDI to have such a high-quality, independent healthcare facility, it needs support from local folks,” says Joe. As a current member of the Hospital’s Business Friends Society and as one of the Hospital’s founding donors, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust has helped MDI Hospital provide independent, high-quality healthcare to our Island community for over a century.
“I think there’s a similarity between the Hospital and the services that we provide at the bank,” says Joe. “When people come to our small, rural community and end up needing to visit the Hospital, they are often pleasantly surprised at the scope and quality of care that they can receive. Similarly, I think many folks don’t initially have high expectations for the strength and depth of financial services that exist locally. But when they sit down to have a conversation with us, they’re often pleasantly surprised at what we have to offer.”
For more information about Bar Harbor Trust Services, visit www.bhbt.com or call 207.667.3883.
