In the coming weeks, Comerica Bank will open its new $5 million BusinessHQ small business collaborative space at its bank location on East R.L. Thornton Freeway in Dallas. The 8,000-square-foot BusinessHQ (above) will offer a mix of coworking spaces, incubation fellowships, and technical assistance to provide “capital, cultivation, and connectivity” to local small businesses.

But wait—there’s more.

Today Comerica announced that it’s repurposing idle real estate at other banking centers throughout North Texas to create Comerica CoWorkSpaces. The new concept will offer complimentary office space exclusively to the bank’s small business customers.

Through a $3 million investment, nearly 10,000 square feet of space across nine locations will be transformed into “unique resource centers where Comerica customers can conduct business. Each CoWorkSpaces site will be equipped with features like Wi-Fi, AV presentation equipment, reservable meeting rooms, hospitality stations, and more,” Comerica said.

Meeting a need for work-from-home small businesses and more

“Our research told us that many small business customers struggle to find space to conduct meetings or work remotely,” Jim Weber, Comerica’s Chief Experience Officer, said in a statement. “At the same time, the recent increase in work-at-home arrangements among many employees and executives has created a need for affordable and appropriate work locations.”

“We’ve listened to our customers, and CoWorkSpaces directly addresses these needs and delivers a value-added experience that truly raises their expectations of what a bank can be,” Weber added.

The CoWorkSpaces locations will offer:

• Community Space, a free venue to host business meetings and community organization events.
• Common Space, non-private common work areas featuring open tables, cubicles, and lounge seating.
• Conference Space, with access to spacious conference rooms for business meetings.
• Private Space, via temporary private offices.

The bank’s small business customers will be able to access site-by-site information through what Comerica describes as an”easy-to-use online scheduling system.”

Follows bank’s January announcement of SmallBizCo-Op concept

In January, Comerica announced the launch of its new Comerica SmallBizCo-Op concept, which will see the bank share assets and resources with small business customers in the region to help them achieve their goals. That initiative offers free service offerings designed to help small businesses grow and thrive, such as the opportunity to entertain a client or share a perk with their employees through free Dallas sports tickets, additional advertising support from Comerica’s inventory, savings on everyday business purchases, and more.

Comerica says that small business owners taking advantage of these platforms “span across all industries including restaurants, health care, education, construction, and nonprofits.” To date, the bank says it has provided free sports radio ads at Dallas sporting events to 75 small businesses, free tickets to a Dallas sporting event to 147 small businesses, and free marketing digital ads displayed in Comerica’s North Texas banking centers for 50 small businesses through the SmallBizCo-Op program.

“Fostering deep, supportive relationships is what sets Comerica apart from other banks,” Cassandra McKinney, Executive Director of the Retail Bank, said in the statement. “We are relentless in our pursuit of new ideas that can not only set us apart from and above our competition, but more importantly bring real benefits to small business owners.” 

Three recent small business regional director hires

In addition to the above initiatives, Comerica recently hired three small business regional directors—Sandra Felegy, Brent Harraman, and Meghan Storey—to expand its reach in small business communities in California, Texas, and Michigan, respectively.

The new regional directors are led by Comerica’s Director of Small Business Banking Omar Salah, and will be responsible for the overall leadership and success of all small business banking activities within their markets. They’ll oversee a team of small Business Group Managers, Small Business Relationship Managers and Small Business Bankers in the execution of Comerica’s small business strategy.

Comerica added that it also plans to debut several digital solutions throughout 2023 “with a focus on payments and access to convenient capital for entrepreneurs and small business customers.”

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