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Lowellville Huntington to close
By Kalea Hall
LOWELLVILLE
The only community bank branch in this small village will close Dec. 30.
Lowellville Mayor James Iudiciani Sr. is not happy about the Huntington bank branch’s shuttering and says he has another bank with interest in coming to the village.
“We need a community bank,” he said. “We still have a lot of elderly people who do their banking in town. It has been there a long time, and I hate to see it go.”
Iudiciani recalled the bank when it was Lowellville Savings and Loan and then Citizens Bank, Sky Bank and finally a Huntington went in the location in 2007.
Tom Collins, district manager of southern Mahoning County and Columbiana County for Huntington, said every year, the bank looks at its distribution channels and where offices should and shouldn’t be located. Traffic at village bank also is reviewed. Upon review, it was announced in September that Lowellville was an office that would be consolidated.
The four, full-time employees will be relocated to other branches.
The closest location to the Lowellville Huntington, at 102 E. Water St., is the bank inside Poland Giant Eagle, at 3130 Center Road.
Collins said the customers at the Lowellville branch have been notified of the closing.
Although Lowellville has about 1,200 residents, there also are numerous businesses and residents who are business owners, which Iudiciani said shows there is a market for a bank.
“We are in the recruitment process of bringing another bank into town,” Iudiciani said. “The banks have always been a part of the community of Lowellville.”