Thursday, Sep. 10, 2009
New Wachovia branch expected to handle most transactions in Georgia
By TONY ADAMS - tadams@ledger- enquirer.com
When the new Wachovia branch opens on Macon Road this morning, expectations for its performance will be huge.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia, which was purchased by San Francisco-based Wells Fargo last December, projects the Columbus banking office will have the highest volume of transactions in all of Georgia.
“Out of the entire East Coast, Midtown was chosen for this project,” said Chad Gregory, community bank president for the Columbus market.
“Basically Wynnton Road and Auburn Avenue have outgrown their facilities,” he said Wednesday. “What played a huge component in that was the potential growth of Fort Benning … over the next couple of years. So we’re pretty honored that we’ve got this opportunity.”
With the coming opening of the 4,500-square-foot branch fronting Cross Country Plaza in the Midtown area of Columbus, the Wachovia offices on Wynnton Road and Auburn Avenue closed their doors Wednesday.
Gregory said all 20 employees have been transferred to the new branch, which also will boast the first Wells Fargo bank layout in Georgia.
The new design is more open, with fewer walls and more emphasis placed on developing relationships with customers, Gregory said. That includes a greeter, called a “stage director,” at the front door.
There also has been a shift within management. Gregory oversees retail banking locally, while market president Gregg Allmendinger is focusing primarily on commercial clientele.
Teresa Tomlinson, executive director of MidTown Inc., a group working to revitalize the area surrounding the new Wachovia, welcomed the bank. It comes with a severe national recession coming to an end.
“It really is, we feel, a significant step towards what will become a wave of economic activity,” she said. “Once the economy begins to adjust, we think Midtown is primed to take part in that growth.”
Investing in Midtown
Wachovia is donating $15,000 to MidTown Inc. Tomlinson said the money will be used to bring in expert speakers, such as one that will discuss the economic benefit to the city from residents spending money with local businesses.
Some of the donation also will be used on a joint partnership with the city aimed at reducing vacant and abandoned properties in the MidTown area, she said.
The Wachovia project also is a financial shot in the arm for the owners of Cross Country Plaza, Glenwood Development Co., which has offices in North Carolina and Georgia.
Wachovia is second-largest bank in the Columbus-Phenix City market, with roughly 15 percent of total deposits, according to the latest data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The company said it serves 60,000 households locally.
Columbus Bank & Trust Co., a Synovus Financial Corp. affiliate, captures more than 51 percent of market share. Atlanta-based SunTrust Bank is third, with just under 9 percent of the market.
The rebranding of Wachovia’s Georgia offices — including its 17 branches in the Columbus area — to the Wells Fargo name is expected to begin in 2010, Gregory said, with completion scheduled by mid-2011.
The local operation now employs just over 200 people and is now hiring, recently posting a handful of jobs, he said.