PROVIDENCE – Efforts to make a name for Berkshire Bank in Rhode Island are taking shape, with May 1 targeted as the opening data for a new Providence commercial lending office, according to Cristina Feden, the bank’s senior vice president and regional president of eastern Connecticut and Rhode Island for Berkshire Bank.
In an interview with Providence Business News on Jan. 8, Feden detailed plans for the new office at 100 Westminster St., which will add to the five southern Rhode Island branches the bank has operated since acquiring Savings Institute Financial Group Inc. in May 2019.
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The new lending office comes on the heels of a December announcement that the Boston-based bank will shutter 16 branches across the region, an 18% cut to the bank’s regional footprint. None of the six branches identified to close are in Rhode Island, though the other 10 have still not been publicly disclosed.
Feden said the new Providence location has long been a part of Berkshire’s plan to grow its Rhode Island presence, and that adding a lending office in the state’s capital city was crucial to that goal. While she acknowledged the increasing shift toward online and mobile banking, a shift exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the bank still sees value in a brick-and-mortar location to develop commercial relationships.
“If you’re going to service Rhode Island and help people in the Rhode Island market, it’s important to have a presence in Providence and a place for people to meet.”
Current plans call for two to six existing employees to staff the new Providence office; no new hires are planned at this time, Feden said.
The office will serve commercial and residential loans, as well as its “MyBanker” financial counseling service.
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.
