Butler County is quite unusual in that we have been able to maintain truly local entities to serve the public here. We have several shining examples of local industry and establishments that make up a major benefit for residents.

Nothing is a better example than the Butler Health System which provides health and hospitalization services to us which frees us from having to travel all the way to Pittsburgh for care.

Another is the educational opportunities available because we have the No. 1 community college in the land at BC3. It also is under local control. We also have our own theater, museum and library system. We will add with honor that we also have a locally owned and managed daily newspaper which is something you can’t find in Beaver County, Lawrence County, Washington County, Erie County, or almost any other county in Western Pennsylvania.

We also are pleased that we have NexTier Bank, Mars Bank, Farmers National Bank, Northwest Savings Bank and several smaller banks to serve people who place local investment and local involvement high on the list of reasons to select a place for banking services.

We suppose congratulations are in order for all the growth that PNC has announced of late. It seems they are growing away from smaller communities such as Butler County and looking to the wide open spaces of Texas and Arizona. They no longer have a downtown presence in Butler and no longer are the once expected participant with community activities. But you can now, or soon will be able to, use their banking services in Austin, Texas. Austin’s gain is surely Butler’s loss. PNC is on track to becoming one of the examples of contactless banking.

Whether that is a good thing is up to each person’s needs. If you are blessed with technical skills and feel fully competent to do everything online, it won’t matter much to you. If you still like to be able to ask questions of a live banking clerk or a local branch manager, you probably will need a new bank.

Change is inevitable and less service for higher fees is a staple with the bigger banks, and PNC seems to aspire to be a bigger bank as opposed to a local bank. In the past 30 years First Seneca became Integra. Integra became National City, and National City became PNC. Maybe they will choose to continue with the (P is for Pittsburgh) PNC name, or maybe they will become a victim of a bigger fish with a taste for the western lure (get it … fishing lure). But either way it is sad to see them moving away from the towns and the people that made them what they are. It makes us appreciate the true local banks that remain.

As PNC goes on its way, it will open opportunities for the community minded banks to provide additional services and to benefit from being really vested in our community.

Hopefully that will mean job opportunities for any employees who haven’t yet been cast out of PNC’s boat. Shop Local applies to banking services too.

— RV