A marriage of convenience, at least that!Earlier, I mentioned buried in a paragraph that Bank of Elk River might ultimately locate a branch at the Ramsey Town Center Coborn's store - and I said then, wrap up the litigation, get it done, the people want it, the people need it.
It is now official, although I have not seen any "official press release" paperwork from either the grocery outlet or the bank.The Business Journal report discloses:
Friday, April 10, 2009 - Elk River bank to open in Ramsey
Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal
- by Jennifer Niemela Staff Writer
The Bank of Elk River received approval to open a branch in a Coborn’s grocery store at the Ramsey Town Center.
The Elk River-based bank will open the branch in July, said Pat Dwyer, president of the bank.
The approval marks the end of a conflict between The Bank of Elk River and Community National Bank, based in Lino Lakes, over which bank would be allowed to open a branch in the Ramsey Town Center, Dwyer said. The Bank of Elk River applied with the Minnesota Department of Commerce to open the branch 18 months ago. However, Community National Bank, which financed the Ramsey-based Ramsey Town Center, claimed sole rights to operate a bank in the complex, he added.
A judge decided Community National Bank did not have exclusive rights to operate a branch there, and The Bank of Elk River’s application was approved by the Department of Commerce in March, Dwyer said.
Sara Mauch, a spokeswoman for Community National Bank, had no comment.
The new branch will employ four or five full-time workers, Dwyer said.
Vanman Architects and Builders Inc., based in Golden Valley, is designing the branch. Construction of the facility will cost about $150,000, Dwyer said.
jniemela@bizjournals.com | (612) 288-2138
You might think it quaint, but Bank of Elk River has chosen to populate their website pages with the image suggesting they are as good as the people they employ - an interesting concept in the days of workforce retrenchment and use of temp-staffing:
The Vanman firm did the work on the main downtown Elk River expansion, a year or so ago, in downtown Elk River - not on the river, but between Highway 10 and Main Street, just west of where Main Street crosses the BNSF tracks, (by the old Otsego bridge - across Main Street from that intersection), and near to where the Diamond City Bakery is located.
This means you don't need to plan a bakery bread trip, to play the cash machine - but the bakery is well worth the trip to Elk River, even for those of us living in Ramsey!
FYI: The Bank's branch location in the Ramsey Coborn's store will be adjacent to the pharmacy and the customer service - cleaners location at the west Coburn's main store entrance, and the Coborn's store manager said it will be "a full service outlet," originating loans etc., (i.e., not just a quick-stop outlet as at the Bank's Walmart location in Elk River).
Three years earlier would have been even nicer, but we who are loyal Bank of Elk River customers look forward to this expansion step, at a time when other financial outlets are restrained and less aggressive about public service branch expansions.