BRIDGEPORT – The East End’s bank desert now has an oasis in the form of new M&T Bank full service branch led by a banker who knows a bit about that section of the city. The branch is the first one in the East End in 30 years.
Calvin M. Jones II, a branch manager and vice president of M&T’s branch at 850 Main St., leads the new branch that had a grand opening Wednesday complete with food, music and speeches from bank and elected officials.
“I want to be candid here as a member of the community, not as an employee of the bank,” Jones said. “M&T Bank came with the slogan ‘Together We Can.’ And I, like many other people, was a little apprehensive saying that’s what they say. They say they’re going to do something and they don’t do something.
“But guess what? They didn’t lie. They did exactly what they said. They met with the community folks. We sat down and we asked what do you need. You said we want a branch.”
The branch occupies 1,538 square feet at 1224 Stratford Avenue. It features teller service, a walk-up ATM, and private offices for financial consultations designed to meet a broad range of customer needs, from everyday transactions to mortgage assistance and small business support.
The bank will be part of commercial development that will include a Gala’s Foods Supermarket, Braxton markets and a salon.
The visionary behind the branch and development is Anthony Stewart, founder and president of Ashlar Construction. Prior to starting his business, Stewart managed major complex masonry projects for the Metropolitan Transit Authority and the New York City School Construction Authority, the Hudson Yards real estate development project and the East Side Access project connecting Long Island Railroad Service to Grand Central Terminal.
“I am very proud of this,” Stewart said. “It was a long time coming. I grew up in this neighborhood. Back in the 1960s, we moved up from Georgia. I lived about four or five blocks down. My father helped build that building there (pointing across the street from the bank). My mother had a beauty parlor on the corner here that we later bought and we are going to make into a grocery store. We built the library behind you and we created this square.”
He said the idea behind it was to get what you see in Europe where you have an area where you have all the grocery stores and restaurants.
“We named it Honey Locust Square because we were planting Honey Locust tress all the way around,” Stewart said. “And someone came to me and said, ‘you know those trees. They get really big and cause all kinds of problems.’ I said, really? Well, we already bought the signs.”
He gave credit to M&T Bank for investing in the East End and making the branch a reality. He said M&T made a commitment by signing with Stewart’s construction company when there was no building on Stratford Avenue.
“M&T Bank is proud to open our doors in Honey Locust Square and to help meet the banking needs of this neighborhood,” said Frank Micalizzi, M&T regional president in Bridgeport. “This moment is a direct result of the collaborative dialogue we began with community leaders and residents, turning those crucial conversations into a tangible resource for residents of the East End and East Side.”
Mayor Joseph Ganim pointed out how long it has been since the East End had a fully operational bank branch.
“It’s a big day in the East End,” Ganim said. “So many in participating in seeing this branch open and become a reality in so long. If you know the history of this site and the challenges when it was Bank of America that had the last branch.”
M&T has become a key part of Bridgeport’s economic landscape, expanding its footprint and deepening its investment in the city through initiatives like a customer call center at Bridgeport Center that has created more than 350 jobs and strengthened the local economy.
“We started this project more than three years ago and due to M&T’s incredible dedication to the City of Bridgeport,” Ganim said. “East End residents now have reliable banking services right where they live and work.”
In addition to a $6,000 grant to the Bridgeport Public Library, the M&T Charitable Foundation’s $25 million Amplify Fund has directed nearly $3 million to more than 20 Bridgeport nonprofits focused on housing, youth programs, entrepreneurship and neighborhood revitalization.
