BHTS and CTC merged into one entity, Bar Harbor Wealth Management, as of May 1, 2022. Bar Harbor Wealth Management has a separate committee. The committee membership is composed of: Daina Belair, Martha Dudman, Debra Miller, Brendan O’Halloran and Curtis Simard. These directors oversee the Bar Harbor Wealth Management subsidiary, which offers trust and wealth management services to clients. Ms. Belair serves as the Chair of the committee.
CEO and Senior Management Succession Planning
Our Board oversees CEO and senior executive management succession planning which is formally reviewed at least annually. Our CEO and our Human Resources Officer provide our Board with recommendations and evaluations of potential CEO successors and review their development progress. Our Board reviews potential internal senior executive management candidates with our President and CEO and our Human Resources Officer, including the qualifications, experience, and development priorities for these individuals. Directors engage with potential candidates at Board and committee meetings and in less formal settings to allow directors to personally assess their qualifications.
Further, our Board periodically reviews the overall composition of our senior management’s qualifications, tenure, and experience. Our Board also establishes steps to address emergency succession planning in extraordinary circumstances. Our emergency succession planning is intended to enable us to respond to unexpected position vacancies, including those resulting from a major catastrophe, by continuing our safe and sound operation and minimizing potential disruption or loss of continuity to our organization’s business and operations.
Board Meetings, Committee Membership, and Attendance
In 2022, our Board held 10 regular meetings, one strategic planning meeting, for measurement against strategic objectives meetings, and one annual meeting. Directors are expected to attend our Annual Meetings of Shareholders, our Board meetings and the committee meetings of committees of which they are members. Each of our directors attended at least 96.0% of the total number of meetings of our Board and each of the committees on which they served during 2022. In addition, all the Directors serving on our Board at the time of our 2022 Annual Meeting attended the meeting.
Identifying and Evaluating Director Candidates
Board Composition
Our Board oversees the business and affairs of our organization. Our Board provides active and independent oversight of management. To carry out Board responsibilities, we seek candidates with:
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Strong business judgment
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High personal integrity
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Demonstrated achievement in public or private companies
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Proven leadership and management ability
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Dedicated—able to devote the necessary time to oversight
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Free of potential conflicts of interests
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Collegial manner
Our Board seeks directors whose complementary knowledge, experience, and skills provide a broad range of perspectives and leadership expertise in financial services and other highly complex and regulated industries, strategic planning and business development, business operations, marketing and distribution, technology/cybersecurity, risk management and financial controls, human capital management, corporate governance, public policy, and other areas important to our business strategy and oversight. Our Board also assesses directors’ age and tenure, and Board continuity; it strives to achieve a balance between the perspectives of new directors and those of longer-serving directors with industry and institutional insights.
Board Diversity
Although we do not maintain a formal diversity policy, our Board views diversity as a priority and seeks representation across a range of attributes, including gender, race, ethnicity, and professional experience. It regularly assesses our Board’s diversity when identifying and evaluating director candidates. In addition, our Board seeks to include members who are independent, possess financial literacy and expertise, and have an understanding of risk management principles, policies, and practices, and have experience in identifying, assessing, and managing risk exposures. Our 12 director nominees, reflects the Board’s commitment to identifying, evaluating, and nominating candidates who possess personal qualities, qualifications, skills, and diversity of backgrounds, and provide a mix of tenures that, when taken together, best serve our company and all stakeholders.
Shareholder Engagement
Our Board and management regularly engage with our shareholders to solicit their views and input on Company performance, corporate governance, ESG and other topics of interest to shareholders, such as human capital management, and executive compensation matters. These meetings may include participation by our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, or other senior management members, and they generally focus on our performance, strategy, and business development. The combination of information received in investor meetings and shareholder engagement meetings regularly provides the Board and management with insights into the comprehensive scope of topics important to our shareholders.
Additional Corporate Governance Information
More information about our corporate governance can be found on our website at www.barharbor.bank. Shareholders may also obtain copies of this proxy statement, free of charge, as well as our other corporate filings at our website.