Associated Bank to close 21 branches

Associated Bank announced it plans to close 21 branches across three states, including 16 in Wisconsin, in the late first quarter and early second quarter of 2012.
The impacted locations are close to each other, usually within two miles, the bank said. The branches to be closed are:
Downtown Milwaukee, 815 N. Water St.
Greendale, 5651 Broad St.
Brookfield North, 12600 W. North Ave.
Waukesha Coral Ridge, 1700 Coral Drive
Madison, 3394 E. Washington
Madison, Hilldale, 617 North Segoe Road
La Crosse Bridgeview, 2402 North Rose St.
Appleton Copps West, 2400A W. Wisconsin Ave.
Sturgeon Bay West, 519 S. Lansing St.
Kimberly, 600 W. Kimberly Ave.
De Pere West, 115 Fourth St.
Eau Claire, 220 Water St.
West Wausau, 2711 W. Stewart Ave.
Neenah West, 640 S. Green Bay Road
Wisconsin Rapids Copps, 900 E. Riverview Exp.
Manitowoc River Heights, 1920 N. Rapids Road
Rockford Loves Park, 6213 North Second St.
Rockford Edgebrook, 1601 N. Alpine
Chicago., 225 N. Michigan Ave.
Rochester Hy-Vee South, 500 Crossroads Drive SW, Rochester, Minn.                                   
                        
“As part of our strategy, we continuously evaluate our operations to ensure we are investing our resources in a manner that allows us to achieve optimal returns. Our unwavering goal is to provide consistent, reliable value to both customers and shareholders. Accordingly, we recently completed an evaluation of our retail footprint to ensure our network is ideally positioned for future success, especially as it pertains to the changing regulatory and competitive environment,” the bank said in press release.
The closures will displace employees at the affected branches, the release said.
“All impacted colleagues have been informed of these changes, and we are working with them regarding opportunities to transition to the other locations or seek new positions within our organization, where positions are available,” it said.