Shamrock Bank Will Open Ave Maria Branch
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- Published on Thursday, 07 June 2012 17:44
A long-awaited bank branch in Ave Maria is finally scheduled to open later this summer.
Shamrock Bank CEO Coleen Kvetko said Thursday that the bank, which has been seeking regulatory approval for months to open an Ave Maria branch, received the go-ahead Wednesday to proceed.
"I'm ecstatic about it," she said in a phone interview. "It will be great for Ave Maria and great for Immokalee and other area residents."
Mrs. Kvetko said she hopes the branch can open by Aug. 20, with the main challenge being to install all of the necessary communications equipment. The branch facility already is completely built out, as it was constructed five years ago for Florida Community Bank (FCB), which had planned to relocate its headquarters in Ave Maria but ran into financial difficulties before it could do so. FCB eventually failed in January, 2010.
The Ave Maria branch will initially be open three days a week -- Monday, Wednesday and Friday, she said. It will have drive-through and after-hours deposit facilities, although it might not have an ATM at first, Mrs. Kvetko said, because Shamrock customers can use ATMs at Publix supermarkets at no charge and there is one directly across the street from the new branch.
The bank will be hiring locally for several positions, she said, including a full-time job assistant branch manager and part-time tellers. Anyone interested in applying should get in touch with the branch manager, John Tenney, at 239-961-0277 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Shamrock is planning an event for July 7 -- the bank's fifth anniversary -- for people to be able to meet the staff and tour the facility. The bank was founded by Ave Maria University founder Tom Monaghan and other investors and is based in Naples, where it has a branch on the corner of US 41 and 5th Ave. S. as well as a loan center on US 41 in North Naples.
Mrs. Kvetko said she is grateful to a number of people on her team who helped bring the branch to Ave Maria, including town resident Carlos Figueroa, whom she called "our ambassador to the community."
In additiion to banking services, Mrs. Kvetko said she also expects the bank will use its large lobby for other community events after hours. "We're really looking forward to being part of the community," she said.