PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — A longtime employee of the Presque Isle KeyBank is scheduled to soon retire after 36 years of devoted service. Steve Gagnon, senior vice president and market leader for the branch, will soon be hanging up his suit and trading it in for a pair of golf shoes and a set of clubs he will now have much more time to use.
The Caribou native has been working for the Presque Isle branch of KeyBank since 1978, when the bank was known as the First National Bank of Aroostook (FNBA).
“I started on June 12, 1978, as a management trainee for FNBA. I am very appreciative and grateful to David Dorsey, former president of FNBA and First Citizens Bank for providing me the opportunity,” said Gagnon. “I’m not sure I would have ended up in banking otherwise.”
Gagnon graduated from the University of Maine at Orono with a B.S. in finance and accounting in 1978.
“As a management trainee, I started out on the teller line, learned operational procedures, then advanced to collections. Then, I eventually moved up to assistant branch manager and branch manager,” said Gagnon. “After approximately 10 years, I moved into the commercial banking area and started a credit department for Depositors Trust Co., which had purchased FNBA. Later, I became a middle market commercial banking officer and eventually a business banking sales leader covering the area from Augusta to Fort Kent. In 2011, I was promoted to my current position as hybrid retail/business banking team sales leader and market leader for Aroostook County.”
Since Gagnon’s early years as a management trainee, things have changed a great deal in the banking world. He touched on some of those major differences, while describing just how much the banking industry has evolved in the last 30-plus years.
“When I started in banking we posted passbook savings deposits and withdrawals accounts by hand to the general ledger. We also posted all commercial loans payments and advances by hand at the end of the day. Twenty years ago, using an ATM was still considered one of the biggest tech developments in banking. KeyBank was one of the first to offer ATMs to clients. Today you don’t even need to go to an ATM,” said Gagnon.
“One of the biggest changes in the last 20 years has been online banking and, now, mobile banking. In addition to ATMs, people can use their smart phones to make bank deposits. Online banking is 24/7. It’s all about getting information to clients quicker, faster and more conveniently,” he added.
Gagnon is happy to be entering the next stage of his life, but it was evident he has a lot of hope and expectations for not only his own personal future, but that of the banking industry as well.
“Technology changes are happening at a much more rapid pace than we’ve been used to. Voice recognition is a great example. Remote banking lets clients bank on their own time 24 hours a day; customers are no longer confined to traditional bank hours, which allows customers more choice in terms of whom they bank with,” said Gagnon. “In the past, they chose banks with branches that were physically located close to them. Now their choices are pretty much unlimited. The Internet is a great tool to help with comparison shopping when choosing a bank. We’re not there yet, but we’re still talking about a cashless society. Clearly we’re seeing more “cashless’ or paperless transactions, which continue to increase — now we can use apps on our smart phones to pay for coffee at Starbucks.”
Gagnon will be turning 58 in October, which he mentioned he didn’t mind telling me, as he is quite a few years younger than most retirees in this day and age, when most find themselves toiling until at least the age of 65. When asked “why retire now?” the answer was simple for Gagnon, as he feels confident it is time to slow down and enjoy the “golden years” of his life with his family.
“After 36 years I felt it was time to take a step back, reflect on the past and spend more time with my children and grandchildren. I also plan to play lots of golf, which I have a true passion for,” said Gagnon. “My three grown children are all in Maine (Portland, Bangor and Caribou), and each has one or more children of their own. I want to spend more time with them, travel some, as well as perhaps look for new opportunities and challenges in time. Not sure what or when that will be but I do know I will not sit idle.”
Although the reason for his retirement is simple, that certainly does not mean Gagnon will have an easy time saying goodbye to the businesses and the co-workers he has spent so many years with. While his focus will now be more geared toward family, Gagnon will do so with many fond memories from the last 36 years.
“I’ve had a great career and KeyBank has provided me with great opportunities for advancement. Key has allowed me to see how the bank functions and being able to make a difference in people’s lives,” said Gagnon. “It’s been very gratifying to be able to provide financing to people, whether it’s for their first car, their first home, a new business startup or giving a young farmer the opportunity to follow in his father’s footsteps, then watching the business grow and become very successful.”
It was clear Gagnon took a great deal of pride and satisfaction in the help he was able to provide a countless number of people throughout the years. When asked about the next 20 years of his life, and what he sees in store for himself in the near and distant future family, friends and golf are all in the picture, but beyond that, Gagnon doesn’t have any plans set in stone, and even has hopes of working again someday, if and when something flexible comes along.
“The toughest part about this decision is leaving the Keybank family of employees as well as long-established clients. Over the years, I have developed very close relationships and have worked with some of these individuals for more than 25 years. We truly are like a great big family — watching our children grow up together, attending sporting events, and the like. It will be tough to leave them.”
