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Our
Mission
Southbridge Savings Bank is a community-oriented mutual financial
institution committed to high quality, personalized service through
our greatest asset, our employees. The professional staff has been
empowered to provide products and services to satisfy the needs of
retail customers and small business customers in order to be the premier
financial institution in our marketplace.
Our
History
Southbridge Savings Bank first opened its doors in 1848 to the first
depositor, Ms. Fanny Richardson of Brookfield. In August of the same
year the bank granted it’s first mortgage to local blacksmith
Charles E. Cady in the Sandersdale section of Southbridge. The group
of founders, which included prominent industrialists in town as well
as civic and political leaders, decided to open a mutual savings institution
that would pay depositors dividends and provide a means for individuals
to own homes.
During the next century, the bank grew as the community began to grow
and prosper. Many people came to the city from the country looking
for employment along the banks of the Quinebaug River and Southbridge
Savings Bank helped fund new businesses and homes. By the beginning
of the 20th century, the inventions of electricity and automobiles
brought much more growth to Southbridge bringing the total population
up to 10,000. By the time World War I began, the banks assets had
risen to nearly $3 million, which mimicked the growth of the times.
With business booming in the 1920s, industry and businesses began
expanding. The bank, however maintained its traditional policy of
“merit before magnitude” and this philosophy saved many
Southbridge Savings Bank customers from the disastrous events of the
stock market crash in 1929.
During the next forty years, the bank continued to expand and in 1972
the Southbridge Savings Bank opened its first branch in Sturbridge,
another opened soon after in Charlton in 1976.
Through the recession of the mid 1970s, the bank maintained its standard
of remaining profitable even during the downturn of the economy, which
affected many persons throughout the country.
In the 1980s, Southbridge Savings Bank expanded its services again
after joining with the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)
and opened another branch at the Fair Shopping Plaza in Southbridge.
The bank began offering innovative services including home equity
credit lines, debit cards, and with the opening of a new branch at
the Big Y in Spencer in 1996, the convenience of in-store banking.
Since that time eight more branches were added, offering convenient
banking and innovative products to eleven communities from Amherst
to Worcester. With the opening of the Oxford traditional branch in
2007, the bank will now offer 13 full-service locations throughout
Central and Western Massachusetts, including seven in-store branches
that are open extended hours and seven days a week. In addition, the
West Boylston St. location in Worcester offers even more convenience
with an internet café where a customer can enjoy a hot cup
of coffee while viewing breaking news on a flat screen or checking
their accounts online as well as an onsite financial advisor and full
time commercial lender.
As Southbridge Savings Bank looks toward a new future of operation,
the vision set forth by its founders carries on. By staying true to
the tradition of leadership, trustworthiness and service, the bank
will continue to earn the loyalty of customers while it recommits
to staying a strong hometown bank. Ever since that day back in 1848,
the bank has supported the local community in their personal and professional
endeavors.
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