By ALLISSA KLINE
akline@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1612

Northwest Savings Bank's first Niagara County branch is open to the public.

The newly constructed office at 275 Meadow Drive in North Tonawanda officially opened Sept. 7, a bank spokesperson said. It employs five people, including newly named office manager Shannon Zimmerman of Lockport.

The Warren, Pa.-headquartered bank now operates 14 branches in Western New York. It announced last April that it intended to build the 3,200-square-foot facility in North Tonawanda.

The branch originally was slated to open sometime during the fourth quarter.

The bank would not release the cost to construct the new building, but it did say new branches usually fall in the $2 million range.

Northwest is currently trying to get permission to build another new branch in Brighton, a suburb of Rochester, the spokesperson said. The bank opened three new offices in that area in 2009.