A high-ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee is looking into Bank of America's decision to shut down it mortgage processing center in Getzville.
New York's senior Senator Charles Schumer told local reporters Tuesday he understands Bank of America is downsizing. But Schumer says he wants to know, why Buffalo?
"We have one of the best labor forces for this kind of activity. In fact, Citigroup just announced they're expanding. It was a good of M&T to pick up some of the slack of the 1,200 employees, about 600 will be hired by M&T [and] another 100 will stay at Bank of America. So it's not like some other places where the whole place closed. But again, that's not good enough," Schumer said.
Bank of America tells WBFO News it is closing the 13-year-old facility in the Cross Pointe Business Park because fewer borrowers are having trouble. Rep. Brian Higgins says it's always disappointing when jobs are lost in Western New York.
"The good thing is M&T Bank is coming in to save half of those jobs that otherwise would have been lost. And it's a great tribute to Bob Wilmers and M&T and their profound commitment to our area," Higgins said.
Schumer says Bank of America is supposed to get back to him in a few days with justification for picking Buffalo over other facilities. The Brooklyn Democrat, who is number three on the Banking Committee, says he is going to make an effort to get the bank to "rethink their decision."
