Standard Bank Renews Commitment to Community at Official Grand Opening

After nearly three months in full operation, Standard Bank and Trust celebrated its official grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony this week in Evergreen Park.

Opened in late May, the new facility is quite different from its five-story predecessor, which originally housed Lawn Savings and Loan before it closed in the late 1960s. The smaller building boasts environmentally friendly features and is easier to maintain than the previous structure, according to Lawrence Kelley, president and chief executive officer of the bank. The building contains office space for rent, smaller offices and cubicles for employees on the main floor.

Community leaders say the new development also makes for an attractive entry into the village, especially since it sits across from The Plaza, 2500 W. 95^th St., which has lost several stores over the years, including an Office Depot that left vacant the area across from Standard Bank’s parking lot.

“Any new development is a win-win for Evergreen Park,” said Helen Cuprisin, president of the Evergreen Park Chamber of Commerce. “Having that lovely Standard Bank on that corner there makes for an attractive gateway into our village.”

When Standard Bank moved to 2400 W. 95^th St. in 1970, bank officials didn’t envision needing to change the design of the bank to accommodate the change in the industry.

The company, which has its corporate headquarters in Hickory Hills, learned years later that the advancement of technology, change in the market and necessity for new services would require a change in structure.

Considering the advance in technology, customers are able to do much more at home, online. To accommodate this, Standard Bank chose to decrease the size of the lobby, and increase the number of offices.

“With the electronic banking, there isn’t the lobby traffic that there used to be,” Kelley said. “What we’re finding now is a lot of the lobby traffic is here for a specific purpose,” to get a loan, financial advice, discuss annuity options, insurance—all services that banks have come to offer over the years.

“When I started at the bank in 1980, we just opened accounts,” Kelley said.

With Standard Bank having 43 locations in the Chicago and northwestern Indiana area, Kelley said the company is happy to renew its commitment to the community.

“We’ve been locally owned and managed, and we think that, especially in this environment where you have a lot of out-of-state, larger banking banks coming in, we’ve always found that our customers go with us because we are in the area … we connect with them better and we have a higher level of service.”

Throughout the month, Standard Bank and Trust will continue to celebrate its grand opening with a sweepstakes, offering a chance to win one of three 42-inch televisions, one of 10 Sony digital cameras and one of 25 $50 gift cards.