Three area banks a century old and still going
Community Bank, upper case, isn’t the only venerable community bank, lower case, operating in the southwestern-most corner of Pennsylvania.
Three of these modestly sized financial institutions have been doing business within a 25-mile radius for a century or more – concurrently most of the time.
Washington Financial Bank, First Federal Savings and Loan of Greene County and Community Bank have been serving customers for a collective 348 years. Their functions are similar and their leaders are uber-experienced professionals who know one another well.
“We’re friends,” said John Montgomery, president and CEO of Community Bank – referring to himself, Michael Chaido (Washington Financial) and Chuck Trump (First Federal).
“All three of us have really strong connections to clients and communities. And employees,” said Montgomery, who relocated from Missouri four years ago to take over as president and CEO. “I think all three banks have been survivors because of those things.”
“This community bank model is a key,” said Trump, president and CEO. “Three banks around for 100 years or more proves there is a link. People knowing us 100 years is a mantra of trust that is important.”
Washington Financial is the eldest of the three financial institutions, at 125, followed by Community Bank (123) and First Federal of Greene, which hit the century mark in March.
Wash Fin, as it is recognized locally, actually will turn 125 on Nov. 22. “We always do a big Christmas party,” said Michael Chaido, president and CEO. But because of the pending milestone, he said the bank will have a holiday bash on Nov. 16 for employees, board members and retirees.
“We may still be paying bills from the party we had in 1999 when we turned 100.”
The institution was founded in 1899 as the Industrial Building & Loan Assoc. of Washington, and has evolved into several other incarnations since. For the past 25 years, Wash Fin’s headquarters have sat atop a hill on Main Street in downtown Washington. It oversees 10 branches, including the one below the courthouse, the bank’s original location.
Chaido, a 28-year employee, said operating a bank “is a never-ending effort.” Providing consistency, he added, is paramount.
“Branches have changed a lot over the past 20 years. The fastest-growing segment for a bank is phone. Phone banking is the best. But the thing is, there is still a need for the human component.
“Being a smaller bank, our job is a little different. We have less capital than larger competitors, so we have to be selective with what we do with funds. A key is how we manage interest rates. Every bank in the world is dealing with that. The bottom line, he said, is “if you take care of your customers and employees, things will work out.”
It has been four years since John Montgomery left Missouri to take over as president and CEO of Community Bank, whose corporate headquarters are in Carmichaels. The bank was publicly founded in July 1901 as the First National Bank of Carmichaels.
“I remember one of the first entries in our ledger – $1.15 for envelopes and postage stamps and five cents for ink,” he said, chuckling.
First National, apparently, ramped up quickly, though. Montgomery said that in 1906, the bank had $133,000 in assets.
“We’re continuing to grow,” he said. “Let’s put it this way: in 1901, there were 13,424 banks in the United States. By 1921, that number increased to 30,456. Today, there are fewer than 4,000.”
That growth included developing and opening a corporate center in North Franklin Township about a decade ago.
To succeed in banking today, Montgomery said “part of secret sauce is paying attention to what clients need. Their needs change, and they’re changing very rapidly. We’re blessed to have really good community banks, which makes communities stronger and enables banks to survive.”
He said Community Bank (upper case) has been “holding steady” on office locations, closing some and consolidating others. “We have a new branch in Rostraver, we’ve relocated our Uniontown branch and have renovated almost all of our branches. We’re trying to invest in them, keeping them fresh and up to date with technology.”
Montgomery described the competition with First Federal and Wash Fin as “friendly,” adding that “we applaud the work they do. We just want to do a little better.
“At the end of the day, we all want to do what we can for our communities and clients.”
First Federal launched in 1924 in a way reminiscent of the holiday film classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” That March, 17 men met at a store in Carmichaels to form the Home Building and Loan Assoc. of Greene County.
“The name zeroed in on home ownership,” Trump said. “The founders founded our business to build homes.
The association had $33,000 in assets and made its first conventional mortgage to Andrew McClellan of Carmichaels.
As with the movie, “there was a run on our bank, which used depositors’ money to lend to the borrower,” Trump said. “That truly was how it began, how the bank profited.”
The name endured for 15 years, when the association bought a frame building and lot on South Washington Street in Waynesburg. It secured a federal charter, after which the current name was adopted.
First Federal expanded a few years later and in 1946, moved into a larger space at 25 E. High St., its current location.
The three banks based in this region continue going, with a pledge to clients that “you can bank on us.”