PROVIDENCE – Mayor Jorge O. Elorza and Pawtucket Red Sox mascot Paws recently joined executives from JPMorgan Chase & Co. for the official opening of the company’s first consumer banking branch in Rhode Island.
The group gathered Sept. 18 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new branch, located at 234 Thayer St. near Brown University in the College Hill section of Providence.
While Chase – the consumer banking arm of the company – is new to Rhode Island, JPMorgan Chase & Co. is not. The company has had commercial, private and real estate banking operations here.
Over the next several years, Chase plans to open 12 consumer branches and 20 ATMs in the Greater Providence market, hiring about 80 people in the process, the company said.
Chase’s second branch is planned to open in December on Westminster Street in downtown Providence’s financial district.
Entry-level employees will be paid at least $16.50 an hour and will receive the company’s full benefits package, including health care insurance and retirement savings, Chase said.
Meanwhile, Chase has committed $3 billion for home and small-business lending in New England to mark its consumer banking expansion in the region. Eligible customers may receive up to $3,000 in homeownership grants, the company said.
Joining the Providence mayor for the ceremony was Dan Deegan, Chase head of expansion; Timothy Oliveira, the branch manager; Roxann Cooke, Chase’s regional director of consumer banking; and Patricia Gillman, Chase’s market director.
Scott Blake is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Blake@PBN.com.
