Detroit-based First Independence Bank moved its main branch and headquarters to 7310 Woodward Ave. in the New Center area on Monday, Aug. 15. The new branch is located in Suite 101 in the former location of the Detroit Police Department’s Central Office.
Richard Zamojski, First Independence Bank president and chief operating officer, said the move will make it easier for First Independence customers to visit the bank. “One of the big issues that we’ve had downtown is that while we are centrally located in the downtown area, we don’t have access to parking. So, a lot of our customers are challenged by the issue of parking around here because not only are there no curbside spots, there are no free parking spaces in the general area,” Zamojski said.
The new location will allow First Independence to become a fixture in the community it serves. “We think it’s going to be closer to our customer base because community banks tend to work with small to medium sized businesses and residents of the city. We think that area puts us more centrally located. We’ll be more accessible there,” Zamojski said. Ample parking and access to public transportation are two of the benefits of the bank’s new location. “The location we’re moving to will have free parking for our employees, but it will also have spaces dedicated to customers near the entrance of the building. So, we’ll have free parking in a gated lot for customers and we anticipate there will be curbside parking when the M-1 Rail construction ends,” said Zamojski.
First Independence Bank is a Detroit-based black-owned bank. It was founded in 1970 and is one of 28 black-owned banks in the United States. The bank’s mission is “to serve the financial needs of our community, 
its businesses, and its citizens. No line of financial services is beyond our charter as long as we are serving the financial needs of businesses and families in our community. The bank’s most important asset is its customers. Without customers, the bank is nothing. Our products and services are designed to meet the needs of customers, our hours are set to meet the needs of customers, and our employees are hired to meet the needs of customers.”
As a community bank, First Independence not only serves the basic financial needs of its customers, but also promotes financial education as an important part of the bank’s commitment to the community. “We will put on seminars for financial literacy purposes and we’ve worked closely with the Federal Reserve here that has helped with supplying materials for education purposes. We also, from a lending point of view, do a fair amount of residential lending in the city of Detroit. So, we work with those customers to try to find solutions,” Zamojski said.
First Independence has two other branches, 7020 W. Seven Mile Road in Detroit and 38880 Garfield Road in Clinton Township. For more information about First Independence Bank, visit .
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