RomAsia, a banking division of Roma Financial that caters to the region’s Asian-American population, has announced that it will open a second branch.
RomAsia opened on Route 1 in South Brunswick in 2008 with the hope of being the first of several new branches. At the time, bank officials said they had hoped to open one new branch each year for at least five years, mainly in Monmouth County. The recently announced new branch, however, would be the first to accompany the bank’s headquarters branch.
The new branch is set to open at Wick Shopping Plaza at the intersection of Plainfield Avenue and Route 1 South in Edison later this year.
The bank, which opened just before July 4, 2008 — a week considered less than optimum for opening any new business — took off early and beyond the expectations of RomAsia’s then-president Bill Heath and Roma Financial CEO Peter Inverso.
By the end of the year, things had settled into a more routine day-to-day operation and Heath had been replaced by Dominick Mazzagetti. RomAsia recently posted its first quarter 2010 assets, which are now more than $100 million. In the first quarter of 2009 the bank reported $66.8 million in assets.
Despite the growth, Mazzagetti is cautious in his appraisal of the bank’s intended growth. He acknowledged that the bank is “operating in a very challenging economic environment,” but said the time has come to move ahead with plans to expand.
#b#RomAsia Bank#/b#, 4287 Route 1 South, Monmouth Junction 08852; 609-897-8100; fax, 609-897-8138. Dominick Mazzagetti, president and CEO. www.romasiabank.com.
