New York regional lender First Niagara Bank – successor to Connecticut’s former NewAlliance Bank — put up $4,000 to fund enable Manchester to recruit more businesses to join the bank as downtown tenants.
The Downtown Manchester Special Services District (DMSSD) said the grant also will be used to help make technology upgrades within its office at 983 Main St., Suite 10.
In December 2011, First Niagara funded the town’s Downtown Market Study, which was designed to gain insight needed to reposition Manchester’s Downtown District for future growth. There are an estimated 200 businesses in downtown, officials said.
The study is the nexus for a downtown recruiting package the DMSSD will distribute.
Aside from its downtown branch at 220 N. Main St., First Niagara has an indirect historical link to Manchester: the town was once home to former Savings Bank of Manchester, which after a series of mergers, became New Haven-based NewAlliance.