HERMITAGE F.N.B. to move to Florida

Headquarters for local operations will stay in Hermitage.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- F.N.B. Corp. is moving its corporate headquarters from Hermitage to Naples, Fla.
The parent company of First National Bank of Pennsylvania said no employees will be moving, however, because the 15-member corporate staff has been working in Florida for the past few years.
The top executives worked part of the time out of Hermitage and traveled there often, said Clay Cone, a company spokesman.
Its top officer, Gary Tice, had worked principally in Florida as president and chief operating officer and then took over as chief executive last year when Peter Mortensen retired.
Tice said the company is making the move because most of its assets and shareholders are in Florida. He said being closer to its banking and other subsidiaries will improve operations.
Banking to remain: Steve Gurgovits, F.N.B. vice chairman and president of First National Bank, said the headquarters for area banking operations will remain in Hermitage.
F.N.B. began buying banks and insurance companies on the west coast of Florida four years ago. Officials said such acquisitions are a good investment because the area is growing rapidly.
Moving the headquarters will help the company continue its growth strategy, Tice said. The board of directors approved the move last month.
The company also intends to change the place of its legal incorporation from Pennsylvania to Florida. Shareholders will vote on the matter at the company's annual meeting in Naples on April 23.
Gurgovits said the relocation will not take away from its banking operations in the north, which include Youngstown-based Metropolitan National Bank.
"The company will continue to maintain a significant presence in the communities that it currently serves," he said.
F.N.B. built a $7.5 million office building in Hermitage in 1997.
F.N.B. has $3.9 billion in assets and operates 154 banking, insurance and consumer finance offices in five states.