PORTLAND – Michael McNamara, president and chief executive officer of Peoples Heritage Bank, was elected chairman of the Maine Association of Community Banks at the organization’s 110th annual meeting June 19 at the Stage Neck Inn in York Harbor. He succeeds Thomas Finn, president and chief executive officer of Damariscotta Bank and Trust Co.

McNamara joined Peoples Heritage Bank in 2000, after nine years with KeyBank, during which he was president of Key’s Maine affiliate. He also spent 22 years with the Fleet Financial Group and The Merrill Bankshares Co.

A graduate of the University of Maine, he is actively involved in a variety of charitable and civic organizations including service on the board of directors of: the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Portland; Maine State Chamber of Commerce; Maine Medical Center; Maine & Company; Maine Economic Research Institute; and The Maine Life Care Retirement Community Inc. He was recognized for his community contributions as the recipient of the Spurwink Institute’s 1999 Humanitarian of the Year Award.

Sherwood Moody, president and chief executive officer of Mechanics’ Savings Bank, Auburn, was named vice chairman.

Elected to the association’s executive committee along with McNamara, Finn and Moody were: Steven A. Closson, president, Androscoggin Bank; Joel W. Stevens, president, Kennebunk Savings Bank; Dennis H. Brown, president, Calais Federal Savings & Loan Association; Rodney J. Normand, president, Sanford Institution for Savings; Arthur C. Markos, president, Gardiner Savings Institution, FSB; and Robert A. Harmon, president, Norway Savings Bank.

The association represents 22 member banks throughout Maine.