Unity Bank’s new location at 899 Palisade Ave. in Fort Lee — Courtesy: Unity Bank
By Joshua Burd
Unity Bank has opened its 20th branch with a new full-service location in Fort Lee, increasing its service footprint and boosting its retail presence in Bergen County.
Located at 899 Palisade Ave., the 1,890-square-foot facility occupies a space that had been operated by another bank, according to a news release. The location at the Columbia Avenue intersection includes dedicated parking and drive-up banking and ATM services, with local touches such as the abstract landscape oil paintings of Bergen County artist Sol Zaretsky of Teaneck, which Unity purchased through its program to support local artists in its host communities.
“We are committed to Bergen County and Fort Lee is a natural fit to our footprint,” said James A. Hughes, CEO and president of Clinton-based Unity Bank. “Banking services at the branch level are increasingly important to our customers, particularly small business owners who still, even in the age of electronic banking, rely on branches. Community banks are engines for economic growth and we are focused on bringing that drive to Bergen County.”
The new branch follows Unity’s debut of a Lakewood location in December, meaning it now provides financial services to retail, corporate and small business customers in Bergen, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Ocean, Somerset, Union and Warren counties in New Jersey and Northampton County in Pennsylvania. The bank holds about $2.4 billion in assets and $1.8 billion in deposits.
Ryan Peene, Unity Bank’s senior vice president and chief depository officer, leads the development of the Fort Lee branch and all of Unity’s retail banking operations. The Fort Lee team also includes Area Manager Franca Fabrizio, Operations Manager Sunita Pereira, Commercial Lender Vince Forma, SBA Lender Kathleen Hay and mortgage lenders Nicholas Aversa and Pasquale Grande.
“Unity is committed to supporting small businesses and families,” Hughes said. “The new branches are bringing our full suite of products and services to the local marketplace. We are helping launch small businesses, grow existing companies and enable families to purchase a house, or put an addition on their existing home.”
