West Bend-based Commerce State Bank plans to open a branch in Elm Grove this summer.
The bank recently leased a 3,289-square-foot space in the Autumn Grove Plaza, 12750-12950 W. Bluemound Road, from Mid-America Real Estate. The space was formerly occupied by Securant Bank & Trust, said Joe Fazio III, chief executive officer, chairman and co-founder of Commerce State Bank.
Commerce State Bank opened its second branch in Cedarburg in December. This will be its third.
The bank is waiting on approvals from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions before it can solidify plans, but Fazio hopes the Elm Grove branch will be open by July 1.
Fazio wants to grow the bank’s customer base in Waukesha County, and the Bluemound Road location offers good visibility and accessibility.
“We have several clients in the Waukesha County area, several community clients, and we have some deposit clients there as well, and we see that as a good depository location,” he said. “The layout of the facility, it already is a bank so it has many of the features and the functionality that a bank facility would need.”
Commerce State Bank has hired six new employees that will staff the branch once it opens. It now has about 52 employees.
While the bank offers electronic and mobile solutions to customers, Fazio said it’s important to create a physical presence in a new market.
“We had the opportunity to hire some really professional, experienced bankers in (Waukesha County), and to leverage that we want to have a physical presence there,” he said. “This really follows kind of our model of when we started the bank: We leased some space, built some presence and visibility in the market and proceeded to grow it.”
