WEST BRATTLEBORO — The automated teller machine next to the West Brattleboro Post Office was recently closed down by TD Bank, and the associated night deposit box as well. According to what we have been able to determine, the bank does not intend to reopen the facility.
This loss will make accessing money harder for local residents as well as for visitors from out of state, and therefore it will have a negative effect on local businesses. Selling to people passing through is how our retail trade exports its goods and imports money, and selling to local people is the way that money keeps recirculating in the local economy.
The easier it is to access money, the more flexibility people will have in using it. More flexibility will result in more transactions, and the money from those transactions will generate other transactions. Any barrier to this trade is not a good thing.
While there are other ATMs in West Brattleboro, this is the only one, to our knowledge. that was open 24 hours a day. Furthermore, the night deposit box was of real benefit to local businesses and others.
Brattleboro has a great downtown, but shutting down ATMs in West Brattleboro will mean heretofore unnecessary trips. And a healthy portion of out-of-state tourists head directly west from Exit 2. Will they stop any more or just wait until Wilmington?
The purpose of the West Brattleboro Association is to promote the thoughtful and effective evolution of the community of West Brattleboro as a place that is safe, healthy, attractive, and prosperous. The West Brattleboro Master Plan, portions of which are now implemented, has pointed the way toward improvements for our Marlboro Road area and our historic village center.
We invite TD Bank officials to let us know their reasoning in making their decision. Is it because our total need for money is judged to be less because we are not a rich village? How can we grow our prosperity if new barriers are put up in our way? We are reasonable people and would be happy to talk directly to bank officials to see if we can work in some way with the bank.
We strongly urge the bank to reverse this action.