Bristol County Savings Bank staffers pose in front of the lender's newest loan office, in downtown Providence.

Bristol County Savings Bank has furthered its expansion into Rhode Island by opening a commercial loan office in Providence, Rhode Island.

The office – located in the Homewood Suites by Hilton Downtown Providence building – features two floors of space and a community room available for nonprofit organizations to use for meetings.

“Over the past several years we have experienced particularly strong loan growth in Rhode Island with a considerable portion of the Bank’s lending portfolio now residing in the state,” John Silva, president of the Taunton-based bank, said in a statement. “We are focusing our efforts to further expand in Rhode Island and are excited to enjoy a premier, physical location in downtown Providence to combine our brand of personal service with a process that is simple and streamlined to help our customers focus on building their businesses.”

Bristol County Savings Bank first expanded into Rhode Island with a branch opening in Pawtucket in 2001. The new loan office will be the fourth Bristol County location in the state

“We’ve been supporting the growth of businesses in Rhode Island since the opening of our first branch in Pawtucket in 2001,” Tim Chaves, Bristol County executive vice president and chief lending officer, said in a statement. “We see this move to a premium space in the hub of Providence as a natural progression for our expansion plans. The execution will be similar to our expansion into downtown New Bedford several years ago where we capitalized on a relationship-driven and community-focused strategy.”