JACKSON, Miss. – Despite heavy rain, scores of city leaders, business owners and other potential customers flocked to the new Liberty Bank & Trust Company branch for its grand opening last week.
Located at 2325 Livingston Road in the Jackson Medical Mall District, the branch opened for operation Jan. 4. The Jackson Medical Mall Foundation, Inc. was its first depositor with a deposit of $100,000.00.
“We have two locations in Jackson now,” said Vice President/Senior Officer Carlton Stephen. The other location is downtown.
“I want to do as I always do; I want to have this building blessed,” Stephen said following the ribbon-cutting. The blessing was offered by Bishop Carolyn Tyler Guidry of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Eighth Episcopal District, Jackson.
Stephen encouraged attendees to check out the array of financial products and services Liberty Bank & Trust offers. He directed them to the bank’s literature which focuses on customers getting more out of their personal, business and institutional banking.
The bank specializes in assisting churches with their borrowing needs and also features an “attractive” congregation banking package. A member of FDIC, the bank’s motto is “We Belong Together.”
During the program, Liberty Bank President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Alden J. McDonald assured the crowd that the bank is committed to the Jackson community. He also pointed out some of the high-tech features at the branch like; an area where customers may do their banking through an electronic system inside the facility without having to wait in line.
“This facility cost $3 million, and it is the first that we’ve built since 1974,” McDonald said. He said the percentage of minority participation in the construction of the facility exceeded 50 percent.
McDonald also demonstrated how the facility can dub as a community meeting room. “We want this facility to be your facility,” he said.
Attendee Edith William, a wellness coordinator, said she likes the idea about the branch serving as a meeting facility. “I’m going to see if they will really allow citizens to do that,” Williams said.
Members of the business community say they are pleased to have the bank in the district. “We are heavily involved in Liberty Bank,” said Socrates Garrett, CEO of Garrett Enterprises, Inc. also located on Livingston Road.
Garrett is also president of the Medical Mall District Business Association, and it was his company’s construction division that did the bank’s infrastructure and foundation work.
“We want all of the small businesses to come and let us help you grow,” McDonald urged.
Both Stephen and McDonald thanked Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr., their Board of Directors, the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation, the Medical Mall Business Association as well as many others for their efforts in helping to make the project a reality.
Liberty Bank and Trust Company is the only African-American owned bank in the State of Mississippi and the third largest African-American owned bank in the United States. It operates 21 branches in six states and nine cities. Branches are located in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Missouri, Kansas and Michigan.
For more information, call (601) 987-6732 or visit www.libertybank.net
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