Fremont Bank will be celebrating its 60th anniversary as well as the opening of its new headquarters on Saturday, June 15, 2024 at 39150 Fremont Boulevard. The block party celebration (which will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) will feature complimentary food, drink, live music from a DJ, raffles and other fun giveaways.
“Our motto for this celebration is ‘Here for you, here for good’ and that’s a message we took to heart when planning this event,” says Fremont Bank Senior Vice President of Commercial Banking Don Marek.
The history of Fremont Bank dates back to 1964 when it was founded by Mississippi-born U.S. military veteran Morris Hyman, who attended Stanford University on the G.I. Bill.
“Morris Hyman wanted to do banking differently,” says Marek. “He saw the needs of his clients, most of whom were agrarian ‘Fremonters’ at the time, and he began to do things that the other big banks wouldn’t, such as staying open later and letting people bank on Saturdays, which was revolutionary for the time.”
Fremont Bank’s original headquarters, at the same site of its new building at 9150 Fremont Boulevard.
In the decades following its founding, Fremont Bank would continue to take a localized approach to banking as it prioritized the needs of the greater East Bay community despite the influx of competitors such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo, as well as the rising presence of international banks in the area.
“What we learned through events such as the recessions in both 2008 and 2010, the pandemic and the first two waves of PPP (paycheck protection program) was the value of traditional banking and serving the community intimately,” adds Fremont Bank Vice President of Marketing Devon Johnson.
For both Marek and Johnson, the block party and opening of the new headquarters came as a pleasant surprise as the building was originally slated to open in late 2023. Despite the delay, Fremont Bank relishes the coincidence of the building opening the same year as the anniversary. Fremont Bank continues to work with the City of Fremont to revitalize the downtown area of Fremont Boulevard near the Fremont Hub Shopping Center.
“This opening of our new headquarters is the tangible representation of who we are and what we stand for,” concludes Marek. “We have never grown by acquiring or dissolving another bank. We’ve only grown by fiercely serving our community in Fremont and the Tri-City Area. We’ve been around for 60 years, and with this new stake in the ground we hope to be around for another 60 or 100 years.”
Fremont Bank 60th Anniversary Celebration Block Party
Saturday, Jun 15
11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
New Fremont Bank headquarters
39150 Fremont Blvd, Fremont
www.fremontbank.com/landing-pages/cbg/2024/hq-block-party
