Comerica Bank opened its collaboration and operations campus in Farmington Hills last month, which will accommodate approximately 2,100 employees.
The space now serves as the bank’s largest operations center providing comprehensive coverage nationwide and includes a newly constructed 21,000-square-foot connector that joins existing east and west buildings.
“As we are guided by our storied legacy of helping our customers and communities succeed, we also have a bold vision for our future,” says Megan Crespi, senior executive vice president and COO of Comerica Bank.
As part of the opening celebration, the bank hosted the Boys and Girls Club’s Industry Club members for a special day that focused on career and workforce development. Industry Club students who took a tour of the facility and engaged in financial education facilitated by Senior Banking Center Manager Michael Cheatham.
Comerica’s Michigan Market external affairs managers Kevin Watkins and Hassan Melhem hosted a career conversation with senior leaders of the bank who offered career advice and insights on the financial industry, banking and business.
“Comerica has been a partner with Boys and Girls Club of Southeastern Michigan in many ways including donating, providing financial literacy, and coming to our sites to open bank accounts,” says Sonya Draper, BGCSM Executive Director, Talent & Innovation. “Industry Club helps our youth learn, ensure career readiness, and homeownership readiness.”
She further noted that the young people were exposed to people, like them, who worked their way up and learned that the sky is the limit.
But, according to Kevin Watkins, Vice President and External Affairs Market Manager who manages the relationship with the Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Michigan, the event’s highlight was a youth participant’s presentation on a financial spending and budgeting app that the students have been developing through the Industry Club.
The high school senior previewed his concept of an app that helps users curb spontaneous spending.
“He actually presented what I would call the development stage of an application, like an application for your phone, and what it does is more like behavioral finance,” Watkins explained.
“It’s designed to really allow users to decide if the online purchase they are making is necessary.”
Watkins says that the app will ask the user if this is an item they truly needed.
He adds, “But then it also has a component of where he it can search different websites and possibly get cheaper prices as well. So, yeah, it looked to be like a pretty interesting app.”
The presentation garnered a standing ovation from the audience.
The Boys and Girls Club Industry Club targets youth who have an interest in pursuing careers in fashion, risk management, urban planning, sports, E-sports and the entertainment industry.
BGCSM is the first Boys & Girls Clubs location in the nation to provide the Industry Club model for youth and entrepreneurs and will employ nearly 200 Detroit youth each year, ages 14 and up.
The program gives young people the economic, cultural, human, wellness, and social capital needed to become college, career and startup ready. They will gain real-world experience learning about business.
Watkins noted that during the program, participants focused a lot on small business financial education, because so many of the youth are interested in owning their own business.
“Some have already started them,” Watkins said. “We’ve talked about small business products and services. We’ve talked about how to read and interpret financial statements as well as how to obtain funding for your business. It was a very valuable session.”
“We deeply value our partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan, and I want to thank our dedicated colleagues, including senior leadership, who actively volunteer in the communities we serve,” Watkins said–evoking one of Comerica’s Core Values, Being “A Force for Good.”
During the grand opening ceremony, Comerica recognized two community organizations, Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan and CARES of Farmington Hills, with donations to the organizations totaling $17,500 from Comerica Bank and Comerica Charitable Foundation.
Comerica’s Great Lakes Campus
The 340,000-square foot office complex first opened to colleagues in March 2024, with construction of the entire campus completed in July.
“Our new campus in Farmington Hills builds on our core value of ‘The Bigger Possible’ as it is designed to invest qualitatively and strategically into our customers, colleagues and community,” said Crespi.
The vibrant, high-energy and inspiring campus offers collaborative workspaces colleagues want to work in and customers want to visit both now and in the future. Advanced technology, amenities and ergonomic workstations are helping transform the campus into a destination of choice.
Comerica’s Great Lakes Campus functions as a micro-community, with each floor strategically designed with thoughtful color schemes and wall inscriptions to reflect Comerica’s core values and rich history as Michigan’s longest-standing bank.
The opening of GLC adds to the history of Comerica Bank, which celebrated the 175th anniversary of its founding on Aug. 17, and complements Comerica’s Michigan Market Headquarters in downtown Detroit.
Comerica’s new Great Lakes Campus expands the bank’s relationships with community partners by offering additional, flexible spaces for engagements.
This spring, Comerica held its annual Shred Day on campus for the first time and collected a record 169,000 pounds of paper, along with recycling nearly 17,000 pounds of computer electronics. Donations received during the event generated a total of 28,000 meals.
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