SAN JOSE, Calif., June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Comerica Bank opened its ninth new banking center location in the East Bay today, June 30, at 600 Main Street, in Pleasanton. The bank also announced that it will be sending teams of executives and managers to demonstrate its community banking philosophy by walking Pleasanton streets and speaking with business owners on Wednesday, July 1. The Comerica Bank "walking blitz" coincides with the community's monthly "First Wednesday" celebration by Main Street businesses.

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"We want to listen to small business owners," said Mike Fulton, chief executive officer and president of Comerica Bank's Western Market. Fulton will travel to Pleasanton from his office in San Jose for Wednesday's "walking blitz." "In these tough economic times, we get our best insight from our customers - that's why we have our senior managers joining local bankers to walk the sidewalks of places like Main Street in Pleasanton."

"We are continuing to grow, we are a safe place for deposits, and we are continuing to loan money to qualified businesses," said Fulton. "We have invested in the renovation of this wonderful, historical building as the home of our new banking center in Pleasanton because we believe in this community and its businesses."

The new banking center is located in the renovated former Kolln Hardware building, a downtown Pleasanton landmark with a distinctive cupola. Comerica Bank renovated another historic landmark structure last year in downtown Oakland where it opened a banking center in August.

Fulton is to be joined in his conversations with local businesses on July 1 by Joshua Garrison, manager of the new Pleasanton office. Among the more than 20 Comerica Bank managers reaching out to businesses are Executive Vice President Betty Rengifo Tucker and Senior Vice President Erik Welch, who manages the bank's San Francisco and East Bay retail group. In the past year, Comerica Bank has conducted similar neighborhood walk-and-listen events in Oakland, San Leandro and Hayward - three of the nine new banking center locations it has opened in Alameda and Contra Costa counties since 2005. The "walking blitz" is to begin at 10 a.m. at the new banking center.

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SOURCE: Comerica Bank