AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Chase Bank on Thursday celebrated the opening of its first retail branch in Augusta at Washington Road and Alexander Drive in front of the Kroger.

National and local leaders from the bank came to the city to celebrate the opening and to announce plans to open up to six branches in the region over the next three years.

With 115 branches and more than 2,000 employees in the state, Chase’s presence in Georgia has been growing since 2008.

Chase already has a strong customer base in Augusta, serving nearly 70,000 consumers and more than 3,000 businesses.

Chase will be hiring bankers, branch managers, business bankers, and financial advisors from the local area.

Chase says its branches combine modern design, open layout, and state-of-the-art banking technology to reflect how customers engage today. The new National Hills branch exemplifies this approach, providing a welcoming environment for customers and offering a range of services through a team of employees including a Chase Private Client adviser, relationship bankers, a home lending adviser, and a business banker, according to the company.

The branch also features both walk-up and drive-up ATMs.

“When we come to a community, we aim to be a trusted, long-term partner in the financial journeys of our customers. Augusta is no exception,” said Roxann Cooke, regional director of consumer banking at Chase. “As we get to know the people and businesses of Augusta– and they get to know us – we hope to help as many people as possible achieve their financial goals, while also driving the community’s overall growth and well-being. With this new branch here at National Hills, we are on our way.”

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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Veterans in Augusta were getting connected with resources Wednesday at a VA expo.

Organizations are coming in as far as Washington, D.C., to help veterans.

Veterans receive help filing VA benefits claims, applying for jobs and getting other resources on suicide prevention and their homeless program.

“VA Augusta has a really strong homeless veteran program. It was ranked number one in the nation for the amount of folks they placed into permanent housing. We got a really robust program with several staff members located both in South Carolina and in Georgia. If any of the homeless veterans or folks are at risk, they can show up, there’s someone here who can help them through the process, hopefully get them permanent housing in a hurry,” said Will Martin, chief of public affairs, VA Augusta.

Martin says Augusta.va.gov can also help veterans with resources.

“We have a growing veteran population in the area, with Eisenhower so close, a lot of folks transition. They like the area and they stay in the area, so they need VA care. So, I think the real push for this is just to make sure we are keeping up with the growing VA population in the area, especially VA Augusta wants to make sure we are meeting that need,” said Martin.

Earlier this month, the VA Augusta health system announced some events and initiatives that are aimed at enhancing veterans’ mental health in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month.

For the first time, the VA Augusta healthcare system is accepting involuntary psychiatric admissions.

Leaders say this is a pivotal move to helping our veterans by removing the barriers to help people experiencing an immediate crisis.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – If you have been to downtown Augusta lately, you may have noticed that trees have been cut down.

At Tuesday’s commission meeting, commissioners talked about hiring an arborist to help decide on the removal of trees in the county.

Commissioner Catherine Rice says she brought up this issue years ago and has received complaints about the trees down on Broad Street.

The Director of Engineering, Dr. Malik, says there are arborists in his department on call, and they are not on city contract.

Neighbors say they hope to see improvement in the area.

“The thing I was noticing is that it just doesn’t look very appealing or not much incentive,” said Victor Ishizaki, a neighbor. “It just doesn’t look appealing, you know it looks a little trashy in a sense, even with the sidewalks still some of them looking at just the concrete lifted in areas because of the root movement.”

Another neighbor tells us, she is looking forward to what the next steps will bring.

“There’s no more shade, it looks kind of disheveled to be honest, we’re hoping for them to come back soon,” said Rose Baxeley, a neighbor. “It’s sad to see the trees go, but I’m happy to know there is improvement coming, so just excited for what’s to come.”

The commissioners say they are moving this discussion to the next committee.

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