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Business & Tech

Gold Coast Bank Plans Setauket Branch

Location will feature new amenities for customers.

Islandia-based Gold Coast Bank is set to enter the Three Village area this winter with a new branch it says will be anything but ordinary.

The bank said Friday it received approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the New York State Banking Department for a location in Setauket, the institution's third overall.

The local branch and the bank's second location, set to open in Huntington at the end of the month, will sport Gold Coast's new banking model aimed at welcoming customers and other community members to use the facilities for more than just banking.

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The bank, which focuses on business and professional clients, will allow its customers to host meetings in the conference rooms, tap into the wi-fi and network with other clients in the lounge at the two new locations.

But chief executive Joe Perri said the branches aren't just for business. He also plans to display local artists' work in the bank's offices and to allow community members to enjoy, and even buy, pieces.

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"We really have that focus to be part of the community and we feel giving budding artists exposure gives us more of an involvement," Perri said.

The bank will also host seminars at the Setauket location, which is planned for the corner of Route 25A and Bennetts Rd., covering topics of interest to local residents, such as asking for and obtaining credit from your banker.

"The object is really to have people come in and see the branch and then we feel the business will develop from there," Perri said.

Gold Coast, which opened its doors in early 2008, spent its first two years with just one branch at its Islandia headquarters. Perri said he chose Setauket for one of the bank's long-awaited satellite locations because of its concentration of potential business and professional clients, like those from Stony Brook University Medical Center, and Gold Coast's existing ties to the area.

The bank's chairman, John Tsunis, lives in Poquott, owns the Holiday Inn Express – Stony Brook and sits on several community boards.

Gold Coast's vice chairman, Cristofer Damianos, and director, Parviz Farazhad, also have various business and nonprofit connections in the Three Village area.

The branch is slated to open by the end of the year, but Perri said it may be up and running as early as November.

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