By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
ASHLAND, Maine — Acadia Federal Credit Union will be taking up residence in Ashland in the coming months. According to Ryan Pelletier, Acadia’s board chair, the credit union has purchased the former KeyBank building located at 131 Main St. in Ashland.
“KeyBank leased that building, and Acadia is buying the building,” he said. “The target date to open is mid-March, and they’re advertising for positions right now to try to get folks on board here in the next several weeks and get them the necessary training if they need it. We’ll have an official opening some time later in the spring.”
Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
Acadia Federal Credit Union was the result of La Vallée Federal Credit Union and the Fort Kent Federal Credit Union merging back in 2006.
“There were actually seven separate credit unions in Aroostook County when I first got involved in credit unions back in 2005,” said Pelletier. “Today there are three left.”
In 2007, St. Francis Community Credit Union merged with Acadia, while St. Agatha Federal Credit Union merged with Acadia in 2012.
“Establishing a credit union in Ashland seemed like a logical thing for the board to do — get into the central Aroostook area, but still maintain a connection to the Route 11 corridor as most of our branches are located in the St. John Valley,” said Pelletier, noting that the board began talking about the possibility of expanding last summer. “We see the Ashland-Portage Lake-Masardis area as a great place for future business and economic development.
“With the new mill’s startup and some other activities going on over there, we think it’s going to be a good opportunity to expand our membership and do some investing in those communities,” he said.
Plans call for a full service branch offering a variety of checking and savings accounts, certificates, IRAs, education and health savings accounts, home banking, and state-of-the-art mobile banking. Acadia’s product portfolio includes vehicle and recreational vehicle loans, mortgage and personal loans, and low interest credit cards.
“The Ashland branch has a drive-up window, and we’re going to be installing a new ATM,” said Pelletier. “We’re going to do a few minor renovations, but nothing too significant. The building is in good shape.”
David Desjardins, president/CEO of Acadia Federal Credit Union, said he’s pleased to be expanding into Ashland.
“Opening an Ashland branch is a terrific opportunity to expand our membership base by offering people of the region an opportunity for low cost financial services,” he said. “ As a not-for-profit institution, we can offer lower loan rates, higher deposit rates, as well as lower and fewer fees on services which directly benefit the consumer.”
The Ashland office will be staffed by four employees.
