Robert Gillis and Marianne Smith
Cape Ann Savings Bank President Robert J. Gillis, Jr. will retire from his position on July 30 of next year. He will be succeeded by Marianne Smith, the bank's Chief Financial Officer who will be the first female president in the bank's 174 year history.
Gillis has held his current position since 2017. He joined Cape Ann Savings Bank in October 1975. He was a retail lender for many years before joining the Commercial Loan Department in 2007 as a business lender. He was elected as a Corporator of the Cape Ann Savings Bank in 1990 and as a Trustee of the Bank in 1996.
Cape Ann Savings Bank is a true local bank, founded in 1846 and it has remained a mutual savings bank, owned by depositors and not stockholders.
The change in leadership was recommended and approved by a unanimous vote of the Bank’s Board of Trustees. Gillis will remain a Trustee of the bank.
“Bob Gillis has served the Bank in many capacities for over forty-five years and is a pillar of this community,” said Harold “Bucky” Rogers, former president and current Trustee. “He has been an inspiration to all of us who have had the honor and pleasure to serve with him. We will be forever grateful to Bob for his dedication and the leadership that he has brought to the Cape Ann Savings Bank for all these years. We wish him the very best in his retirement and are extremely pleased that he will remain a Trustee of the bank.”
Like Gillis, Marianne Smith’s tenure working at Cape Ann Savings Bank is long. She rejoined Cape Ann Savings Bank as Vice President, Treasurer on August 5, 2013 after having been a teller for the Bank in the late 80’s. She was promoted to Senior Vice President, Treasurer and elected as a Corporator of the Bank in 2014. Marianne was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2018 and promoted to the position of Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer this month.
Smith has over thirty years of banking and regulatory experience. She began her career as a bank examiner with the Massachusetts Commissioner of Banks and has held accounting and finance positions at multiple local institutions. Marianne received her bachelor’s degree in Business Management at Westfield State University and her MBA in Finance from Salem State University.
A lifelong resident of Gloucester, Smith is active in the community, serving as board President of the Cape Ann YMCA. She is also an Advisory Board member of the Massachusetts Bankers Association Women in Banking, a board member of the DDS North Shore Citizen’s Advisory Board, as well as an avid supporter of the organization, Autism Speaks.
According to Mr. Gillis, “Marianne and I have worked closely together since I became President of the Bank in January of 2017. She and I have focused on doing what is best for our customers, employees, and community every day. She brings numerous skills to the table and a great work ethic. I am proud to have had the opportunity to work with her since she arrived at the Bank more than seven years ago and am confident that she is the right leader for the organization for years to come”.
