American Community Bank Opens in Mineola

The American Community Bank opened its doors Friday in Mineola, after a nearly two-and-a-half year construction project at a new building at the southeast corner of Jericho Turnpike and Marcellus Road.

The Glen Cove-based bank, which was founded in 2000 and has about $160 million in assets, currently has four branches in Commack, East Northport, Glen Cove and now Mineola.

“There’s a lot of (clients) of the bank that are local to here so it was a right decision to come here,” regional manager Matt Nartowicz said. “Some of those people are already banking in Glen Cove, we can help them out by opening here.”

While the bank has the usual amount of deposit options, there are no brokerage services, no minimum balances and no fee structure.

“These things that separate us from the corporate banks,” Nartowicz said, adding that commercial lending is the bank’s strength. “We can look at their personal accounts or their business accounts and help them and structure them more than a large commercial bank can; lending side we’re geared a little bit more toward the small businesses and to the commercial lending.”

Nartowicz said that being known as a “community” bank allows it to take loans and risks at which other financial establishments might initially balk.

“A lot of local businesses that maybe couldn’t get approved by a larger commercial bank we have helped out,” he said. Sometimes the industry shies away from certain types like a restaurant or commercial construction-type loans where with us, with a community bank, it’s more about knowing your customer and not shying away because (of) the industry.”

The bank also made a $1,000 donation to Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Corps. as part of its grand opening and held a family fun day Saturday afternoon.

The branch occupies 2,200 sq. ft of space on the main floor of 285 Jericho Turnpike while the second floor is occupied by one of the bank’s directors, Aldo Verrelli Associates, who also happens to be the building owner.

“It’s just one of those things that turned out, it’s his building and it was always his vision to have his business upstairs when having one of the bank locations on the first level,” Nartowicz said.

A conference room is also at the bank, which is used primarily for loan closings, but Nartowicz said could also potentially be lent out for local business meetings.

“It’s more a convenience factor for our customers,” he said, noting the other board room is in Glen Cove.

Gold Coast Bank on Old Country Road also offers a similar amenity for local business meetings.

The bank expects to have 12 locations on Long Island, with three more locations opening in the next 5 years, but no exact future locations were revealed. The company employs about 50 people in total, with eight at the Mineola branch.

The location features a drive-thru and a drive-up ATM machine. Hours of operation are Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday the branch closes at 4 p.m. but the drive-thru remains open.

“And in Mineola, we actually have a lot of customer parking, which is unheard of,” Nartowicz laughs.

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