Centra Bank prepares for opening Monday
A new bank is opening in Fayette County on Monday. After months of meetings, regulatory filings, remodeling and personnel choices, the merger between Centra Bank and Smithfield State Bank will culminate in ceremonies Monday at Smithfield Bank’s Fayette County offices.
At each, a sign reading “Centra Bank’ will be uncovered. Bands will play and special programs held where 20-by-30 foot U.S. flags will be hoisted up 70-foot high flagpoles.
“I am extremely excited about this,’ Ed Franczyk, president of the new Centra Bank, said.
Franczyk, a 34-year local bank veteran, said the official name change will occur Monday but by Jan. 29, the bank will be known only as Centra Bank.
Programs are planned Monday at 8:30 a.m. at the bank’s Point Marion office; 10:30 a.m. at its Smithfield office; and 12:30 p.m. at the Uniontown office.
Participating in the programs will be the Uniontown VFW Band, Albert Gallatin High School’s Band and ROTC members and local veterans.
Each office will hold a two-week-long grand opening featuring drawings for prizes and a cruise.
Franczyk said the full management team will be announced within a week. The transition, he added, will be seamless.
“We are trying to bring all our employees up to speed. They have a good attitude with the change. Sometimes there might be some nervousness, but that’s normal,’ he said.
Franczyk was chosen to head up the new bank because of his long service with local banks in the Uniontown community. He began in 1972 with the former Gallatin National Bank, which, through several mergers, is now part of National City Bank.
“I’m real excited about this. It’s like I’ve done a 360-degree turn in my career,’ he said. “I started with Gallatin, a small community bank.’ He left National City Bank, a national company, to take the Centra Bank position.
“I feel real good coming back to the community bank level.’
While all the regulatory approvals have been received, Franczyk said he is still working on finalizing who will serve on the board of directors.
He has named his senior management team: Joseph Klocek of Uniontown, a 30-year banking veteran, is senior vice president in charge of retail banking; Michael Uhouse, who has 25 years of banking experience, is the senior vice president in charge of commercial lending; and Sally Bryant, a 33-year banking veteran, is in charge of private banking.
“All three have worked in banking here in Fayette County,’ Franczyk said.
“We have also notified our customers of the change and sent them all letters and a question and answer sheet to explain the most common questions they might have,’ Franczyk said.
Meanwhile, Franczyk said the bank has been getting more loan business during the transition. One of the key platforms Centra officials have espoused during the merger is how much local control there will be in matters of marketing, setting loan and interest rates.
“All the lending decisions will be made right here and not in some other state. We don’t have to send applications out to another office for approval. Our loan and deposit rates will be set by the senior management team in Uniontown,’ Franczyk said.
Centra Financial Holdings of Morgantown, W.Va., parent company of Centra Bank, announced its intention to merger with Smithfield in March.
Doug Leech, Centra CEO and a native of Smithfield with banking ties in Fayette County going back several generations, said the acquisition is Centra’s first since its founding.
Leech’s great-great-grandfather, William Snyder Leech, and his great-grandfather Jesse Arthur Leech, served as cashiers for the First National Bank of Smithfield in the late 1900s.
Centra Financial Holdings Inc. operates eight Centra Bank offices in Morgantown and Martinsburg, W.Va.
Quick to explain it was not a hostile takeover, Leech said some of Smithfield State Bank’s shareholders asked him to start negotiations to buy their stock. It suited Centra’s purposes, he added, “because we have been interested in coming to Fayette County for some time.’
Although the name of the 80-year-old Smithfield State Bank will disappear, Centra will continue to run it as a “locally owned and operated bank.
“All the decisions will be made locally. All the decisions will be made right here in Fayette County,’ Leech, a Smithfield native, said.
“We will form a bank holding company with its own board whose members will be from this area. Loans here will be approved by Fayette County people, not someone in another state. Our product prices and offerings will be tailored to Fayette County. All hiring decisions will be made here in Fayette County,’ Leech said.
“We will bring all the latest technological advances to our customers,’ including Internet banking and bill paying through Centra’s Web site, long-term fixed rate mortgages, a first-time home buyer program and other products.
Part of Centra’s banking model and its philosophy, Leech said, is “placing a great deal of weight on the character (of its customers) as opposed to a score sheet. We will be a local bank with local management that will keep its decision-making close to our customers.’
Leech explained that model has helped make Centra one of the nation’s most successful new banks.
“We have had a lot of fun with it and our shareholders are pleased with the way it has worked out. We don’t lose customers and we have no employee turnover,’ he said.
West Virginia Banking Commissioner Larry Stark said Centra is his state’s fastest growing bank.
Centra is ranked fourth for growth and success of all 680 new banks started in 2000, according to Danielson & Associates, a Rockville, Md., investment banking firm.
Centra also ranks first in mortgage lending in Monongalia County, W.Va., and exceeded its first year growth forecast of $28 million in its first two weeks of operation, Leech said.
Some 700 local shareholders own Centra Financial Holdings. There is a long waiting list for others who would like to buy Centra stock, Leech added.
Centra’s total assets are about $560 million. Total deposits are about $501 million and total loans are about $485 million. Centra’s net income for 2005 reached more than $3.9 million, after taxes.
Leech, who has more than 25 years in banking, said Centra is also focused on the community, making donations of more than $128,000 in 2005 to a variety of groups. Centra employees are involved in more than 60 charities and non-profit organizations.
Centra employs about 170 people.