Berkshire Bank Eyes Former Friendly's

A former Westborough Friendly's could get Berkshire Bank's first Worcester County branch by year's end.

The planning board will hold a special permit public hearing on the project, at 303 Turnpike Road, at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Forbes Municipal Building Room 23.

Berkshire Bank's nearest branch and ATM is in Chelmsford, according to the bank's website.

However, Berkshire Bank already is in Westborough: a commercial lending office at 45 Lyman St.

Bank officials anticipate renovating the former Friendly's building on Route 9 starting in mid-June, Assistant Vice President of Marketing Ray Smith said Friday. The project also includes about a 4,000-square-foot addition, he said.

The commercial and mortgage offices would open in September, he said. The retail branch would open in early December.

"We're very excited about this. We think it goes hand and glove with our Westborough office," Smith said.

"One of our goals is to build out into Eastern Mass. We've started that process."

The Westborough branch would have "teller pods," which are "state of the art technology" allowing for "more personalized service" and security, Smith said.

Customers would receive money brought out from the vault, rather than a teller, he said.

"A lot of the robbers today, they don't want to go to the vault. They want to go right to the teller," Smith said.

"The teller has no money."

The Westborough branch also would have a community room that's open to the public, with a separate entrance and exit, Smith said.

The room would have a big-screen TV, and Wifi, he said.