The University of Southern Maine Foundation has announced a $75,000 gift from Gorham Savings Bank, a leading southern Maine financial services institution. The Bank’s gift includes a $50,000 Founding Sponsorship pledge to support the McGoldrick Center for Career & Student Success, now under construction on the University of Southern Maine (USM) Portland Campus and scheduled to open this coming September.
The Bank’s gift also includes a $25,000 contribution to the Promise Scholarship, a unique USM program that pairs targeted financial aid with comprehensive wrap-around services to bolster the success of limited-income, first-generation Maine students. The program currently supports up to 100 scholars every year––25 new students annually––who are referred by youth-serving organizations throughout the state. Gorham Savings Bank has been a generous contributor to the Promise Scholarship since 2019.
The McGoldrick Center Sponsorship Program offers employer partners like Gorham Savings exceptional visibility, brand recognition, and promotion opportunities in a central location on the USM Portland campus. The Bank is sponsoring a space in the Career & Employment Hub on the Center’s second floor, where students can connect with prospective employers for interviews or talk with their career counselors. As Founding Sponsors, Gorham Savings will enjoy a variety of benefits aimed at amplifying connections between employers and USM.
“We believe workforce development starts with stronger ties between Maine students and Maine employers. That’s why GSB is committed to investing in programs, like the McGoldrick Center and Promise Scholarship, that help facilitate these connections,” said Steve DeCastro, President & CEO of Gorham Savings Bank and Chair of the USM Foundation Board of Directors.
“Gorham Savings Bank has been a leading employer partner and generous friend to USM for many years,” stated Ainsley Wallace, President & CEO of the USM Foundation. “The Bank has fueled the career success of our students through their early support of USM’s unique Promise Scholarship program and their partnership on internship programs. With this extraordinary new gift, the Bank continues to help our students reach their full potential while supporting a key workforce development initiative of USM’s Great University Campaign.”
The new McGoldrick Center will serve as the Portland campus crossroads, where students, faculty, alumni, and employers can connect and collaborate. The Center’s second floor will be home to USM’s expanded Career & Employment Hub, where the employer community intersects with students in the academic community. The third floor of the Center is dedicated to cultivating student leadership opportunities and connections with spaces set aside for USM’s Student Government Association, Diversity Center and more.
With dining facilities, meeting and conference rooms, student activity rooms, and the expanded Career Hub, the Center is among the most environmentally sustainable buildings on USM’s transforming Portland campus. It is a three-story, 42,000 square-foot space that is sustainably designed to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Silver certification. It will overlook the new campus quad, named the “Bean Green,” and sits adjacent to Portland Commons, the first residence hall on USM’s Portland campus.
About Gorham Savings Bank
Headquartered in Gorham, Maine, since its founding in 1868, Gorham Savings Bank is a depositor-owned community bank delivering a full suite of financial services tailored to the needs of Southern Maine’s businesses and consumers. As the only bank headquartered in Cumberland County, GSB serves and supports businesses that value local management, know-how, and accountability. The bank offers consumer savings accounts, personal loans, mortgages, HELOCs, CDs, IRAs, and financial planning services through its 11 branches and growing network of ATMs, Video Teller Machines, and mobile services. Gorham Savings Bank is a tireless advocate for the wellbeing of the communities it serves, donating thousands of volunteer hours to dozens of community-based initiatives annually. Gorham Savings Bank is a member of the FDIC and an equal housing lender. Learn more at gorhamsavings.bank