JPMorgan Chase & Co. became a major force in the Jacksonville economy when it acquired the failed Washington Mutual in 2008.
Washington Mutual had a large mortgage operation in Jacksonville that employed about 2,000 people and combined with JPMorgan Chase’s mortgage banking presence.
The company now employs about 4,000 people in Jacksonville.
However, the banking giant only had one actual bank branch in Jacksonville, at its mortgage center at 7301 Baymeadows Way. That’s about to change.
The Daily Record reported in March that JPMorgan Chase had begun filing plans with regulatory authorities to open a number of bank branches in the area and on Friday, company officials talked about their plans for the first time.
The company intends to open more than a dozen branches in the Jacksonville market in the next 18 months, said Steve Vachon, senior vice president and retail market manager for the Jacksonville region.
“Florida is an expanding market for Chase and has been since our acquisition of Washington Mutual,” Vachon said.
The company’s consumer banking offices operate under the “Chase” name. It uses JPMorgan for its large corporate banking activities, Vachon said.
Chase has 338 branches and more than 17,000 employees in Florida, covering just about every major city except Jacksonville. The company figured it was time to establish a banking presence in the city.
“It’s just an up-and-coming city that’s really vibrant. We’ve got a lot of employees here. So it just makes sense,” Vachon said.
In recent years, other large banks have used acquisitions of small local banks to enter the Jacksonville market but Chase officials think building new branches is a better option.
“It felt natural to build them the way we’ve been building them,” Vachon said.
Chase is starting construction immediately on branches at three locations that are expected to open in mid-October: at Riverside Avenue and Margaret Street, at Southside Boulevard and Touchton Road and at University and San Jose boulevards.
The company has filed applications for six other branches, including two in St. Johns County, with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Although the company announced it plans to open “more than a dozen” offices in Northeast Florida, Vachon said the exact number is still to be determined.
“We’re going to continue to identify great locations for the customers of Jacksonville,” he said.
Each branch will have about a half-dozen employees, he said.
Chase also plans to add 10 automated teller machine locations in the market this year.
In addition to Vachon’s appointment as the head of consumer banking, Chase named Michael Butler as the market president for the Jacksonville region. Both already are living in Jacksonville.
Vachon moved here last fall in anticipation of the branch openings.
“I really wanted to get started on it as soon as possible,” he said.
As part of his eagerness to become involved in the community, Vachon was appointed to the board of directors of the JAX Chamber in January.
“We’re really excited about the opportunity here in Jacksonville,” he said.
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