Unity Bank has opened a new full service branch in Lakewood at 1255 Route 70, expanding its branch network to Ocean County and the state’s fastest growing municipality.
“Ocean County has lost almost 25% of its bank branches in the past decade and county officials are concerned that senior citizens in the county are underserved by the current population of banks,” Unity Bank President & CEO James Hughes explained in a statement.
“Our commercial and residential lending team has made significant inroads serving the unmet needs of the local community so the new branch is a logical extension of these efforts. Lakewood has been the fastest growing municipality in the state so this new branch makes good sense for the community and Unity.”
Earlier this year, Unity established a commercial and residential lending office at the Route 70 facility, which is located at the intersection with Airport Road. The approximate 1,800-square-foot space, previously operated as a bank branch by another financial institution, now provides the full scope of local banking services.
According to the 2020 U.S. Census, Lakewood was New Jersey’s fastest-growing municipality in the past decade and is now the state’s fifth-largest municipality.
Lakewood’s population soared 46% over the past decade, increasing from 92,843 residents to 135,158, according to the 2020 Census.
As TLS reported yesterday, over 5,000 children were born in 2021 in Lakewood, adding to the tremendous growth the township has seen in recent years.
More details of a grand opening event for the Lakewood branch will be announced in January.
Unity Bank, which is headquartered in Clinton, New Jersey, holds about $2.3 billion in assets and $1.8 billion in deposits.
“I’ve always said what’s missing in this town is unity,” said one Lakewood individual – who has a sign on his front door saying, ‘Listen to me! I am not home NOW! I never WAS home! And I never WILL be home! Go away, please!’ – “but no one heeded my call until the aforementioned bank came along this year and opened up a couple of branches here.”
The reclusive resident added: “This is the kind of achdus I was hoping to see, when I first moved into this town.”
“I never thought this would actually come to fruition,” he said, “however, someone assured me it would definitely happen one day. And he was right on the money.”