When MBNA Came To Belfast And Maine And Changed Everything

Video by Belfast Community Television
Class by Mike Hurley with guest speakers

Special Guest David Tassoni

Suzette McAvoy and Judy Stein are the special guests in this episode

The Guest speaker is Shane Flynn.

More than twenty years ago a dinner conversation in Camden led CEO Charles Cawley to place a branch of his fast-growing credit card corporation, MBNA, in Camden. Within a short few years, there were over 5,000 employees all over Maine with the great majority in the Belfast and Camden area. An enormous economic dynamo, MBNA transformed the area pay scale, expectations, and opportunities, and revolutionizing local real estate, the arts, and support services, as well as having a positive effect on education and non-profits of every stripe. The class will learn about the arrival of MBNA, Charles Cawley, the growth in the mid-coast area, its effects on public and private entities and the economy, and MBNA’s powerful impact on the employment market. The class will host numerous “in the know” guest speakers, and will learn and feel the dramatic events that occurred as MBNA arrived in Belfast and the area.

Michael Hurley: Michael Hurley’s company was one of the first contractors called by MBNA when it arrived in Camden. He stayed with them at every job site from Delaware to Maine. He was elected Mayor of Belfast in 2001 and has remained active in city politics for over three decades. He worked on the retention and transition to Bank of America, and the recruitment of Athena Health, and On Process. Mike studied at Bergen Community College in Paramus New Jersey, pursuing an advanced and accelerated field of study.