Charter Oak christens Mystic branch, announces aquarium donation
Mystic — Charter Oak Federal Credit Union planted its flag here Monday, opening a branch in a prime location off Exit 90 of Interstate 95 and announcing it was making a $15,000 donation to Mystic Aquarium, a major tourism attraction accessible via the same exit.
Charter Oak will sponsor the aquarium’s new frogs exhibit, which is scheduled to debut May 28.
“This is a great organization that believes in the community,” Stonington First Selectman Rob Simmons said of Charter Oak, which hosted public grand-opening ceremonies at the new branch at Route 27 and Hendel Drive, former site of Jake’s Wayback Burgers.
Local business leaders packed the facility, which welcomed customers for the first time as well as two African penguins on display from the aquarium.
Simmons, who noted that more than 3 million visitors a year take Exit 90, introduced Brian Orenstein, Charter Oak’s president and chief executive officer, saying, “He did a great job on this building.”
Designed by Point One Architects of Old Lyme, the new branch features interior walls of glass.
Orenstein said the 3,000-square-foot facility provides customers with walk-up and drive-up banking amenities, an Internet café and a public meeting room available for free use by local nonprofit groups. A similar room at Charter Oak’s headquarters in Waterford gets “non-stop use,” he said.
Michael Ballirano, the new branch’s manager, oversees five employees.
Orenstein said the branch — Charter Oak’s 15th overall and third to open in less than four years — reflects the credit union’s financial strength and its commitment to serving customers in New London and Windham counties. It opened a Putnam branch in 2013 and one in Waterford in 2014. Charter Oak also has a branch in Stonington’s Pawcatuck section.
Eastern Connecticut’s largest credit union, Charter Oak has also been the region’s top mortgage lender in each of the past six years. As of Dec. 31, 2015, it managed a total of $935 million in assets, a 10.4 percent increase over the previous year.
Orenstein said the $15,000 donation to the aquarium represents the largest one-time donation Charter Oak has ever made to that institution.
“We applaud the mission of Mystic Aquarium to inspire all of us to care more for our ocean planet through conservation, as well as education and research,” he said. “Mystic Aquarium also serves as a major economic engine, not just for southeastern Connecticut, but the for the entire state and beyond.”
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