JPMorgan Chase & Co. is opening four new offices in the San Fernando Valley this year and hiring 65 to 70 new employees to staff them, the bank announced today. The move is part of a larger plan by Chase to grow its branches by 80 in California this year, adding 1,200 jobs. Chase will have more than 1,000 branches nationwide following its latest expansion, which will see the addition of 175 new branches nationwide. The new branches will be located in Burbank, Encino, Lancaster and Newbury Park. A spokesman said the bank will hire about 65 to 70 people to staff the four area branches. “California is a state with many opportunities for growth, and we plan to invest significantly in the people, facilities and technology needed to serve California consumers and businesses well,” Pablo Sanchez, head of Chase’s branch network in the Western United States said in a statement. “We are creating many jobs, including construction workers to build the branches, vendors to provide services to Chase and, most importantly, branch employees to help our customers with their financial needs.” The move follows Chase’s acquisition of troubled Washington Mutual in 2008. After taking over that bank’s operations, Chase introduced new services not offered by Washington Mutual and expanded branches and locations to grow market share. The current expansion plan is a continuation of that effort. Chase stressed that it will continue its small business lending as part of the expansion effort. The bank made $12.6 billion in loans to small businesses through the third quarter of 2011, of which 27% or almost $3.5 billion were made in California. A spokesman said that number was 70% more than 2010 figures. The bank said it is the number one small business lender in the Los Angeles region.
