Construction is speeding along on McIntosh Commercial Bank's Covington branch location with a grand opening set to take place in January.

Located on U.S. Highway 278, adjacent to the Newton County Library, the 19,000 square-foot-building, with its Georgian-style columns and red brick masonry soars above the architectural landscape of the street.

According to McIntosh Commercial Bank Market President Rick Ward, the Covington bank will be the anchor branch for McIntosh's expansion into the east Atlanta area. Approximately 45 bank employees are expected to work out of the Covington branch.

"Instead of having just a regular branch, this is going to be a financial center," Ward said.

In addition to all of the regular banking amenities which customers have come to expect, such as drive through tellers, free checking and online banking, Ward said the new branch will also feature a full range of retail products, commercial banking, investment services and mortgage services.

"We have a very high standard of commercial service," Ward said. "We're in a very customer-service driven market and we want to be the best at customer service."

To that end, Ward said the new bank will have private customer service areas and private rooms for customers to access their safety deposit boxes. Additionally the bank will feature three drive-thru lanes designed to be SUV friendly and a board room with video conferencing available for the bank's business customers.

While banking services will be located on the first floor, investment services, mortgage services and the bank's board room will be located on the second floor.

With a presence in Newton County since May of 2006, full-service McIntosh banking operations are currently located in a temporary building next to the construction site. Once the bank opens at the beginning of 2008, Ward said the modular building would be removed to make room for some high-end office buildings on the four acre site.

Protected covenants will be in place to ensure that any new buildings built on McIntosh's out parcels are in keeping with the architectural style of the bank said Ward.

Founded in November of 2002, McIntosh Commercial Bank now has six branch locations in Georgia, with four opening in 2006 alone. McIntosh has branches in Carrolton, Covington, Bremen, Newnan, Rome and West Point.

"We firmly believe we'll be a major player," Ward said of his bank's future. "We promise to provide local decisions from local bankers who uphold local community values."