Opening up a branch of the gay-friendly Paramount Bank in Ferndale wasn't a complicated decision, even if it took two years for it to happen.
"It was a logical choice to expand. Ferndale itself is kind of an ideal market for us," said Jeff Sugg, president and CEO of Paramount Bank.
Located on Woodward Ave., Paramount's fourth branch has a community arts gallery in the front part of the building.
"We had an opportunity to really do something different in Ferndale that we hadn't done at the other branch operations," Sugg said.
Another reason Ferndale seemed like an obvious choice for the financial institution was the lack of a community bank, said Jim Guillaumin, senior vice president.
"They believed it was an area in a market that had been overlooked," said John McQuiggin, openly gay Ferndale branch manager for Paramount Bank.
After input from an advisory board, including Leslie Thompson of Affirmations and Triangle Foundation's Jeff Montgomery, Paramount opened its newest branch two weeks ago.
"Since we've been working with that group … we've actually become really good friends with a lot of the members of the community," Sugg said. "It's become really a logical choice to expand our financial empire of Paramount (to Ferndale)."
Known for its willingness to assist customers from the LGBT community, Sugg's goal in developing the bank was to "identify issues specific to the gay community in relation to banking." In Sugg's previous banking experience, many gay people have had a standing history of maintaining clean credit and, therefore, he reached out to them, he said.
Two months ago the bank asked McQuiggin, who has worked in the banking industry for 22 years, to work for Paramount.
"We were fortunate to get him to come over and work with us," Guillaumin said.
McQuiggin said he wants to make Paramount Bank one of the leading financial institutions in the area. "We want to promote equality and diversity within in the city and give back to the community."
John McQuiggin
Profession: Paramount Bank Ferndale bank manager
Age: 40
Grew up: Upper Peninsula and moved to Metro Detroit in 1998
Current location: Redford
Partner: Mason Kilgore, dietary manager for an assisted living home.
Previous experience: Most recently worked with La Salle Bank in Royal Oak, but has worked in the banking industry for 22 years.
