JPMorgan Chase announced the opening of its first retail branch in Madison located at 634 Boston Post Road. The facility brings a much-needed tenant to Main Street, according to Chamber of Commerce and town officials, and will also be a welcome addition to the town’s commercial tax base.

Branch Manager Bob Donahue said he believes the new site will be beneficial to the town in several ways.

“Madison is a community with a rich history and this branch will serve as an economic hub for our neighbors and is place where you can love your local,” said Donahue. “We look forward to building new relationships and helping our customers during life’s most important moments, like opening their first savings account, buying their first home, planning for retirement, and more.”

According to Briana Curran, spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase, customers will discover a branch that looks and feels different from a “typical” bank, combining a modern design, layout, and state-of-the-art banking technology. Curran emphasized that the branch will offer self-service transaction areas including a digital access bar, smart ATMs, and free WiFi.

Chase began expansion plans in the state just before the COVID pandemic upturned many business plans for Connecticut companies. According to Curran, the firm serves nearly 800,000 customers and almost 50,000 business clients.

Curran said the Madison site is part of the bank’s expansion plans to bring 12 new branches to Connecticut, with sites in Hartford, Wethersfield, Enfield and more planned for Hartford County.

According to Donahue, Chase is hiring staff locally to support its new branches, including bankers, branch managers, business bankers and financial advisors.

“When Chase enters a community, we bring the resources of a global institution with a focus on local solutions,” said Donahue. “In addition to going above and beyond to serve our customers, we are going to engage and collaborate with our neighbors to create more equitable economic growth here in Connecticut. We are a global company, but also act locally and we also understand what Madison is about. We believe in the environment, the community and being local. We believe in person to person relationships. We love to engage with our customers. We love Madison and are excited to be serving such a wonderful community.”

Donahue said Chase is committed to brick-and-mortar sites to meet customer needs.

“I think that we appreciate and understand all of the digital integration, and we understand that that is really an important piece, but we also believe there is a great power in human connection and in sitting down and meeting with people face to face and making a connection. So I think we bring both of these, which is really wonderful.”

First Selectwoman Peggy Lyons and Chamber of Commerce members were also excited about the new addition to Main Street and in light of the coming completion of the down town make-over, are hailing the new business.

“We always welcome new businesses to Madison. It’s nice to see a refreshed space here,” said Lyons. “We have a really nice new building now and so we’re excited for that and for the people of Madison.”

According to Chamber of Commerce President Bob Harris, he and the chamber are all enthusiastic about the opening of the branch and what it means for downtown Madison.

“As president of the chamber, we are delighted to support Chase’s effort here,” Harris said. “What I’m hearing is that they are good people and a very people friendly bank and we are just delighted to have them here. This is absolutely a great addition to Main Street and we are looking forward to Bob and his team being part of our community.”