The pattern has become familiar in Erie and across the nation. Banks are shedding branches at an unprecedented clip as consumers move to mobile banking and away from visits to brick-and-mortar locations.

Against that backdrop, Erie is getting a new bank.

More:John Buchna leaves Erie Downtown Partnership for Clarion County Community Bank

Clarion County Community Bank has been doing business in Erie — mostly commercial lending — for about seven years but without a physical location.

Now, the bank is solidifying its local presence with plans to launch Flagship Community Bank as a new division of Clarion County Community Bank.

The new bank will be moving sometime in March into leased space at 2157 W. Eighth St in a former PNC Bank location that closed this past May.

More: In block after block of city neighborhoods in Erie, there's not a bank to be found

Small bank benefits

Founded in 2004, Clarion County Community Bank has assets of $200 million and locations in Clarion, New Bethlehem and Rimersburg in Clarion County and Franklin in Venango County.

That's small by most standards, but CEO Jim Kifer said that enables the bank to be agile and make decisions more quickly.

He also sees a benefit for small business owners.

"We are willing to make smaller loans for $50,000 and $100,000 that some bigger banks might not want to bother with," he said.

Kifer said he expects the new bank to have at least seven employees. The first on board was John Buchna, CEO of the Erie Downtown Partnership for 10 years. Buchna left the Downtown Partnership a year ago to become the bank's business development officer.

The addition of a new bank branch bucks a trend in Erie, where a number of banks have closed offices in recent years.

More:Bank branches closing in Erie, Crawford counties

Kifer said Clarion County Community and Flagship Community Bank offer those electronic options but prefer meeting customers in person.

The loss of bank branches in Erie has been part of a much larger trend.

In 2015, 5,349 commercial banks operated from 81,593 locations, according to the Federal Deposit Corp. As of 2021, 4,236 banks were doing business from 72,166 locations.

More to come?

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Kifer said he's hoping this expansion won't end with the new location near the intersection of West Eighth Street and Pittsburgh Avenue.

"We expect that if this goes well, we might look next year to open another branch in Erie," he said. "Erie is certainly big enough for another location."

The name of the new bank pays homage to Erie's status as the home port of the Flagship Niagara. The original ship, which has been reconstructed, was part of Oliver Hazard Perry's fleet in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.

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Flagship Community Bank's structure is similar to ErieBank, which was introduced in Erie in 2005 as a division of CNB National Corp. of Clearfield.

Contact Jim Martin at jmartin@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Clarion County Community Bank will launch a new division in Erie