Westfield Bank is planning to double the number of branches it has in Connecticut.
The $2.1 billion-asset bank, based just outside of Springfield, announced in a regulatory filing earlier this week that it would open two new offices in the greater Hartford area in late 2019 and early 2020.
In late 2019, the bank will open a financial services center in West Hartford, which will include a suite of offices for residential lending, commercial lending and business and government deposit services. The center will also include a full-service branch office featuring a lobby and safe deposit services and an image technology ATM.
Westfield also plans to open a full-service branch office in a yet-to-be-finalized location in the greater Hartford area in early 2020.
The two new offices will represent the bank’s 23rd and 24th branches and are an integral component of the organization’s strategic expansion into Connecticut, which began with the opening of branch offices in Granby and Enfield in 2013 and 2014 respectively.
“We are very pleased to expand our Connecticut footprint into the greater Hartford community and to introduce the Westfield Bank brand to its residents, businesses, and community organizations,” James Hagan, president, chairman and CEO of the company, said in a statement. “Our initial expansion into Connecticut with our Granby and Enfield branches has exceeded our expectations, with both locations growing rapidly. This success and the warm welcome we have received helped solidify our decision to expand further into the constitution state.”
The bank plans to begin construction at the West Hartford Center location in late summer. Prior to construction, the bank will occupy temporary space at 977 Farmington Ave. in West Hartford.
Several bank employees will move immediately to the temporary location including Todd Navin, senior vice president and commercial lender; Cathy Turowsky, vice president and business and government deposit services sales officer and Daniel Danillowicz, assistant vice president and mortgage loan officer.
“Our new West Hartford financial center will host banking specialists from many areas of the bank,” Hagan said. “Both of our new locations will offer the deposit, lending, and technology solutions our customers need – from individuals, to small businesses and large corporations, to municipalities. We’re confident that our community bank values, customer-first approach, and convenience-based products and services will be a great fit for the greater Hartford community and we are very excited to meet our future customers.”
The parent company of Westfield Bank also recently reported first quarter earnings for 2019.
The company reported net income of $3.4 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, for first three months of 2019, as compared to net income of $3.5 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2018.
Net interest income for the quarter was $14.3 million, down about $400,000 from the first quarter of 2018. The margin settled at 2.94 percent at the end of the quarter, down 18 basis points from one year earlier.
Total assets grew about $130 million year-over-year, while total loans grew $34 million reaching $1.68 billion. Commercial real estate and residential real estate loans made slight gains, while commercial and industrial loans decreased almost $10 million year-over-year.
The provision for loan losses in the quarter was $50,000, down from $500,000 in the first quarter of 2018, while non-performing assets as a percentage of total assets were 0.72 percent, up 14 basis points from one year prior.
