>> good morning. there is nothing like san francisco on a beautiful day like today. there is a lord of above because we have been praying for sunshine all week long. so thank you. [applause] thank you all for coming out to our ceremonial groundbreaking, which we are calling our first game here in san francisco. this is going to be our eighth school service cafe in the usa. we have four, going on 5, in canada. we are delighted to be part of san francisco. we have a big customer base, and we are pleased to be able to

serve them. i have the honor of introducing our ceo, but before i do that, let me introduce mayor edwin lee. he is out here to join us today. [applause] they i say thank you to all of you distinguished guests, those of you that came in from out of town -- friends and customers. we really appreciate you coming out today. without further ado, may i introduce our ceo, the ceo of savings. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. delighted to be here, and thank you, mayor lee, for joining us, and guests. if this is a ground-breaking, i have no idea what is going to happen when we actually open the place. but it is nice to be here. i remember four years ago, we

took the freedom ride and rode around the bay area and listened to rock music. no idea what we're going to do for an encore, but let me tell you that we are all about leading americans back to savings. we want to help and encourage people to save their money. we want to make banking simple and straightforward, and we think a cafe location is the one place where you can find out that there are real people working here. placer have a cup of coffee, talk about money, meet neighbors, and get involved in what the conversations are all about on the street in san francisco. the and part of the community and part of the people that basically helped lead the right direction in terms of improving everyone's lives, i think ing direct wants to be part of that. we think that is important for san francisco. the other thing is san francisco is known for a lot of great trends.

this location, i think we're going to try to do some unique things in terms of how we can bring money not only to the front pages of newspapers and electronic tablets, but basically to get people to think differently about money and think about building communities in a different way, especially about empowering families. right now, it is always amazing that there is more conversations now about sex and drugs than there is about money, and somehow, you know that world has to change a little bit. i think we want moms and dads to tell their kids how much they are saving and what they are doing with their money as opposed to what they should be doing with the rest of their lifestyle. the other thing i want to say is that san francisco has been a great city. we have a lot of customers here, and they keep talking about how they love to have a place to basically hang out, and we are pretty excited the next six months to get this place open,

to have those conversations and have some of the community involvement that we would like to basically in a carriage. for you that came out today, i want to thank you. let me now turn over the microphone for a few minutes to our mayor, who is hoping that every one of these cars coming by are going to wave and say something positive. ed lee -- mayor lee: thank you. thank you very much and welcome to san francisco. if it was as simple as -- can i buy you a cup of coffee, and can you help me figure out my city's budget deficit? that would be a great way to do things. but i understand the concept. i know you have been an online banking service. this is the foray into doing more entrepreneurial and inviting people to come into a beautiful building that we have here, some three floors that will be renovated. they are doing it the right way.

first of all, they have construction. there are 60 jobs being created here, so that is really important to the city. there will be a call center here, a cafe here, but as importantly, the purpose. the purpose is that you invite people to start talking about their financial situation. art was jokingly saying that the first thing in that code was asking if i could get it home reading because i had a pension reform and i needed to figure something out. i know in people's private lives, there is more financial education that we all need, and especially the families that are challenged here. i welcome this type of concept because it is going to be important for people to have better financial advice, have places where they can go and exchange that, and have very inexpensive banking services.

i think that is the combination, and i'm really excited to have read about this, to understand what it means, and it is a different kind of thing. one that you start making some smart investments, and that is what i think our country needs to do, start making smarter investments, not spending on the first thing that claims about making a whole lot of profit that might not even be there. tech savvy approach. this is fantastic. the way you are doing it, using local businesses and construction, using peats coffee here to welcome the bay area company. in fact, i was telling my wife, her first job was at peak -- pete's coffee. this is the eighth ing direct cafe in the country. eight is a lucky number. if you know the asian culture. it means prosperity. i know where this is going. by the end of the year, i will be able to come over here and get advice myself. i'm still trying to figure out

how in the heck did i take this job that pays less than my last one, and how am i going to figure that financial challenge out? i hope that many residents look to this as an exciting place, understand what they are trying to do here. they are keeping costs down. welcoming the understanding that we need, which is combining the technology we have with the banking that we need any savings that we need. the other thing that ing direct is doing is representing corporate values. not only did i understand what they are doing here by using local firms, but they are also investing in our kids. they have already got books for kids through their foundation going. that is a great promise to also have books and maybe a preschool agreement that will teach kids early in their savings as well, so get them started on financial understanding.

that is all exciting to me. the blend of technology and to have a great cup of coffee here in an atmosphere -- we are right in the center here downtown, across from charles schwab and the other financial institutions in the city, and to make sure we welcome a new generation of people thinking differently. that is always what we have done. i'm glad, and i really want to welcome ing direct and their cafe here. [applause] >> thank you, mayor lee. when we started working on the san francisco project last year, one of the things we needed to make sure of was that we selected a design firm that understood our vision for cafes and not just understand it, but understand the principle behind it. we looked around and interviewed about six creative

firms, and i'm very pleased to tell you that pompeii a.d. is the firm that we selected as our design firm, and i would like to introduce you to the principal and creative director. [applause] the low we are extremely pleased that they found us -- >> we are extremely pleased that they found us. there's a story that they told us the first time we met, and it was a delightful story about a cafe in the middle of a city that was not only a place with its usual fare but also a place of business transactions, a place of socialization, and a place that really allow the

participants to invent new things. one of the things that was invented within these walls was bookkeeping. all of this happen while they were talking about their troubles, the philosophies that they encountered abroad, and this cafe was really a hub of commerce, culture, and community, and it existed in 16th century florence. when he told us this story, we thought -- what a vision. what a tremendous vision to want to be influenced and inspired by that historical event so far away, so long ago, and how we can really apply that to ing