At the recent grand opening of the Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank branch at Nashoba Tech are, front row, from left, Banking/Marketing/Retail senior Hannah Whiting (Pepperell); Banking/Marketing/Retail instructor Sally Ricard; branch supervisor Kelli Eliopoulos; Banking/Marketing/Retail students Erin Whooley (sophomore, Shirley), Kalina Swana (senior, Littleton), Kirsten Pudsey (senior, Littleton) and Joshua Richardson (senior, Chelmsford); with Lowell Five President David Wallace in back.
WESTFORD — Nashoba Valley Technical High School has a new partner — and you can take that to the bank.
The Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank opened its newest branch in the retail section of the school, near the in-school restaurant, The Elegant Chef, the Cosmo Cuts hair salon and the Viking Village Mall retail store, all of which are run by students and open to the public.
The same goes for the Lowell 5 branch. It’s a full-service branch that also serves as a teaching tool for students in Nashoba Tech’s Banking/Marketing/Retail program. The Lowell Five and Nashoba Tech held a grand opening Sept. 14, though the branch opened for business the first day of school, Aug. 29.
Lowell Five President David Wallace and Nashoba Tech Superintendent Dr. Judith L. Klimkiewicz cut the ceremonial ribbon to officially open the branch.
“On behalf of the Nashoba Valley Technical School District, School Committee Chairman Kevin McKenzie, Vice Chairwoman Jennifer Rhodes, Secretary Sam Poulten, the administration, the students and the staff, I welcome you as our newest, and best, business partner,” Klimkiewicz said after the ribbon-cutting. “We thank you for providing our students this wonderful opportunity for their future.”
Nashoba Tech is the second school branch for the Lowell Five (Greater Lowell Technical High School in Tyngsborough is the other), and Wallace said it is important to the bank to get youngsters involved at the high-school level. “Some of our best employees come from these school systems,” he said.
From left, at the ribbon-cutting for the new Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank branch at Nashoba Tech are Kelli Eliopoulos, supervisor at the new branch; Amy Werner, senior vice president for retail banking at the Lowell Five; Danielle Bergeron, president and CEO of the Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce; Jennifer Rhodes, vice chairwoman of the Nashoba Tech School Committee; Samuel Poulten, secretary of the School Committee; Nashoba Tech Superintendent Dr. Judith L. Klimkiewicz; David Wallace, president of the Lowell Five; Kevin McKenzie, chairman of the Nashoba Tech School Committee; Robert Caruso, chairman and CEO of the Lowell Five; and Melissa Fetterhoff, president and CEO of the Nashoba Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Werner said Nashoba Tech was an attractive partner for the Lowell Five because its district — Ayer, Chelmsford, Groton, Littleton, Pepperell, Shirley, Townsend and Westford — closely resembles the business footprint of the Lowell Five.
Werner said the bank looks forward to getting Nashoba Tech students involved at the new branch. “We want it to be as tactile and hands-on as possible,” she said. “We have a banking education program, and we’ll be working with Sally on that.”
Also present were officials from the Greater Lowell and Nashoba Valley chambers of commerce, including Danielle McFadden, president and CEO of the Greater Lowell Chamber, and Melissa Fetterhoff, president and CEO of the Nashoba Valley Chamber.
The Lowell Five took over the space in the school previously filled by the Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union, which had a branch at Nashoba Tech for close to 10 years.
The Lowell Five and Nashoba Tech have plans to install a drive-through ATM at the front of the school. The Lowell Five has branches in Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Haverhill, Lowell, Nashua, North Chelmsford, Pepperell, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Westford and Wilmington.
