First Commonwealth Bank to close 29 locations, including 4 in Alle-Kiski Valley

Ashley Coudriet wasn’t happy to hear that First Commonwealth Bank on Leechburg’s Market Street is scheduled to close its doors in December.

She and her husband own several rental properties in the Leechburg area and do all of the banking for their rental business there.

“It’s been so nice. I can just go through that drive-thru. The tellers there know who I am,” said Coudriet, 40, of Gilpin. “Actually, one of the (employees) rents from us and just walks next door to the bank to go to work. It’s just unfortunate.”

She wonders how the closure will affect the borough.

“I guess the bigger concern I have is just seeing how many empty storefronts there are in Leechburg right now,” Coudriet said. “It was doing pretty good. Is it going to bounce back?”

The Leechburg branch and its detached drive-thru are two of 28 banking offices scheduled to close Dec. 11.

It’s the result of customers doing more banking online and fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, bank officials said.

It marks the end of a long history for the downtown Leechburg bank, which was established in 1900. It was owned by First National Bank of Leechburg before its merger with First Commonwealth Bank in 1995.

“It’s one of those institutions that you just take for granted,” Mayor Wayne Dobos said. “But nothing lasts forever.”

First Commonwealth has 148 community banking offices throughout Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Other Western Pennsylvania branches set to close in December include ones in Tarentum, Buffalo Township, Pine and McKeesport, as well as locations in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville and Squirrel Hill neighborhoods. The branch at the SouthSide Works is closing March 19.

Betty Smail worked at the Leechburg branch for 41 years. She retired in March 2011.

When she heard about the impending closure, she worried not only for the employees, but for the customers. The tiny Armstrong County borough has senior citizens and low-income residents who may not have the ability to drive to other branches, she said.

“As much as it saddened me, it came as no surprise because of the electronic world,” said Smail, 68, of Leechburg. “We knew it was coming.”

First Commonwealth Senior Vice President Chris Adams said the bank has locations that are close to the ones that will shutter. In addition to going to a branch, customers can do transactions online or by phone.

First Commonwealth has a branch about a mile away from the Leechburg locations in Allegheny Township, as well as one about five miles away in Vandergrift.

“When you find that you have bank locations that are a mile away from each other, you’ve got to step away and say, ‘Is that the best deployment that we should have?’” Adams said. “There once was a day where banks had locations on every corner. That’s just not feasible (anymore).”

Customers of Tarentum’s Sixth Avenue branch can go to the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer or to the Highlands Mall in Harrison. Both are about five miles away in opposite directions.

Tarentum Borough Manager Mike Nestico said the closure may cause some frustration for residents who don’t or prefer not to drive.

“From a municipal perspective, we hate to see the loss of any business and its employees,” Nestico said. “They have a nice building in a corner lot of our business district. There’s quite a bit of traffic that passes through this area. So if First Commonwealth no longer utilizes this property, I’m sure there will be interest from others at this location.”

Bank officials said a decrease in teller transactions and an increase in digital banking were the reasons for their decision.

The coronavirus played a role by accelerating changes the bank already was considering.

According to bank officials, teller transactions have been decreasing by 15% to 20% annually over the past four to five years, while digital banking has tripled.

“We’re not only looking for today, but we’re also looking into the future,” Adams said.

Adams couldn’t say how many people work at the Leechburg and Tarentum branches, but said First Commonwealth expects “very little job loss” as a result of the closures. Adams said employees have been given the option of working at other branch locations.

“I can’t say that we’ve taken care of everyone, but we’ve taken care of really the bulk of almost each and every teammate,” Adams said.

Smail hopes the Leechburg closures won’t have too much of a negative impact on the community.

“It’s a tragic end, more or less, to an institution that has been there and has helped to form the town. It was there when the town started,” Smail said. “I hope the town can still survive through this, and that all the (residents) can come together and still make Leechburg a great town.”