State Bank of Chilton to open branch in Milwaukee

The State Bank of Chilton will open a new branch on the northwest side of Milwaukee to serve its customers in southeastern Wisconsin. The 6,500-square-foot bank is being constructed at 7141 N. 76th St., southwest of the intersection with Good Hope Road at the former site of Manning’s Supper Club.
The new branch is expected to be open by the end of the year, according to Richard Van Grinsven, vice president of the State Bank of Chilton.
"We are coming down here to service our existing clientele and provide them the small-town bank atmosphere, rather than just being a number," Van Grinsven said. "Our primary reason is to service our existing clients down here. There’s enough here that they’ve been asking us to come down here for four or five years now. It’s very exciting and challenging, and I think it’s going to be very rewarding."
The new branch initially will have six to eight full-time employees, and the staff is expected to grow as the bank’s customer base grows, Van Grinsven said.
The State Bank of Chilton, which was founded in 1891, is the oldest bank in Calumet County and is located on the east side of Lake Winnebago. The company also has a branch in Stockbridge. The bank has assets of about $100 million.
Although the bank provides basic retail banking services, its primary focus is on wealth management.
The bank’s trust department is managed by Paul Hugo, a Chilton native who graduated from Marquette University and began his career at the former Milwaukee Western Bank.
"I did have a rapport with attorneys in Milwaukee. I’ll be down there doing a lot of prospecting," Hugo said.
The State Bank of Chilton’s trust department offers a variety of services, including investment management, living trusts, trusts under will and estate probate work.
The bank contracts with the Chicago office of Wachovia Securities LLC to provide many of the investment services. Wachovia Securities, which specializes in personal finance, wealth management and small business financing, is a division of Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia Corp.
"We do a lot of outsourcing in our trust department. We don’t have a lot of overhead. They handle all of our investments, where as most of the competition in Milwaukee employs their own people," Hugo said. "We can provide the same level of investment services at lower fees. That and our ability to provide local contacts distinguish us. It won’t be, ‘OK, come in next Thursday at 4 o’clock.’ I get a lot of walk-in traffic. We also get a lot of referrals from attorneys."
The Milwaukee branch will be located in a new mixed-use commercial development that also will include a 1,600-square-foot Domino’s Pizza store, a 1,600-square-foot Subway Sub franchise and a 3,500-square-foot Andy’s convenience store.
Anup Khullar’s Priya Corp. is developing the combined $4 million project. Khullar operates about 20 convenience stores throughout the Milwaukee area.
Khullar also is developing a $4.2 million, 9,000-square-foot mixed-use site at 51st Street and Ryan Road in Franklin. That site will include a convenience store, a car wash and a dry cleaners store. Khullar expects the Franklin site to be open by Dec. 10.
September 3, 2004, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI