First National Bank Hosts 4th Autumn Reception
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – First National Bank of Pennsylvania is having a successful year and its offices in the Mahoning Valley have contributed to that success, John Williams told customers, friends and well wishers Wednesday night.
Speaking at the Youngstown Club where the bank held its fourth Autumn Reception, Williams, president of the bank, thanked the guests who filled the dining room and bar for their support as he related how his bank is growing in eastern Ohio.
First National Bank ranks second in deposits in the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman metropolitan statistical district, he related, and is making a move to be first. The bank has enjoyed 13 consecutive quarters of loan growth and 14 consecutive quarters in commercial loan growth, he added.
One of the gaps in the delivery system of the bank was the absence of an office in Canfield. First National Bank will open an office there Dec. 3, Williams said. “People [in the Canfield market] told us they liked our bank,” he said in an interview afterward, “but wanted an office nearer by if they were going to do business with us.”
Lydia Taylor, formerly sales manager of the Liberty office of First Place Bank, will manage the Canfield office of First National Bank.
Kelly Maze was hired recently as First National Bank’s newest private banking officer, Williams continued, and Mark J. Wenick, also formerly of First Place Bank, is vice president and financial adviser in the wealth management division of First National in its downtown Youngstown office.
Another recent hire is Scott McClain who works out of Youngstown as an insurance representative for the insurance subsidiary of F.N.B. Corp., holding company of the bank.
The executive vice president for small-business banking, Pete Asimakopoulos, also president of First National’s western region in downtown Youngstown, introduced Williams. In doing so, he noted the growth of First National in this market and across its footprint. The bank has benefited from drilling in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays, he noted, with eastern Ohio soon to join the prosperity enjoyed across the bank’s presence across northern Pennsylvania.
Making this region attractive to First National Bank, Asimakopoulos said, are its affordable housing, lower cost of living, quality workforce and recognition that “It’s the best place in the country to start a business.” This region is succeeding, Asimakopoulos said, “because everyone’s pulling in the same direction.”
Also present last night were Steve Gurgovits, chairman of F.N.B. Corp. and former president and CEO of the bank and the holding company, Bill Strimbu, a businessman who sits on the F.N.B. board, and community activists Suzanne Fleming and Dee Crawford, both of Youngstown, who sit on the bank board of directors.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio