Who The Heck Is First Niagara Bank Or Guess Who’s Coming To Pottstown

You may have seen the picture of the North End Harleysville Bank with a First Niagara sign in the Mercury the other day.  Now they changed the sign at the East End branch as well.  The signs are covered up with Harleysville banners for now, but not for long.

So who is First Niagara Bank?  They are a Buffalo, NY based bank.  First Niagara recently moved their headquarters into downtown Buffalo. 

First Niagara is aggressively expanding.   First it was western Pennsylvania where they made a foray into the Pittsburgh market.  First Niagara bought 57 branches of National City Bank.  National City Bank was a casualty of the subprime mortgage crisis and was forced to sell off branches by the U.S. Dept. of Justice.

In July of 2009, First Niagara bought Harleysville National Bank which gives them over 80 branches in the Philadelphia region.  So far, First Niagara intends to keep all existing branches open.  According to the First Niagara website, with the Harleysville acquisition they will have 254 branches with $19.3 billion in assets and $13.9 billion in deposits.

So much for having a Pottstown based bank :(.  First, Security National was gobbled up by Harleysville.  Now Harleysville has been gobbled up by First Niagara. 

First Niagara headquarters picture below.

Kudos

Kudos to the Pottstown Borough Department of Public Works, Streets Division for patching all the potholes recently!  WOW, what a difference.  I can use Industrial Hwy again 🙂

Thanks much!

Tweety Bird Turns 70 This Week!

 

I TAWT I TAW A PU . . . A PUT . .  
OH, I DON’T KNOW WAT I TAW !!!

Another Example Of Brownfield Reclamation!

This is another great example of what could happen here in Pottstown.  I am hopeful that the new economic development coalition will consider projects like this!

http://www.centralpennbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=80525&Itemid=109&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Sandra Bullock’s Philandering Husband

First of all, his name is Jesse James…is it just me or is that not the greatest omen?

Now, the object of Mr. James’ lust (Michelle McGee) has posed dressed in Nazi attire!  Really!  Now special!  First you ruin a marriage and then you glorify one of the darkest moments in the history of our planet.

These two losers deserve each other! 

Stay strong Sandra, better days are coming!

Natalee Holloway Remains Found??

I hope this turns out to be her since it would provide closure for the family and hopefully put her killer or killers behind bars once and for all!  I think hoping she will be found alive is unfortunately not an option anymore 😦

http://www.newmediablog.com/2010/03/natalee-holloway-remains-possibly-in-lancaster-couples-picture/

Thank You!

Many thanks to my friends at SavePottstown! and Pottstown’s Blog for their kindness and support!  Look what has been accomplished by working together, supporting each other and speaking with a unified voice and having a unified vision.  It is awesome beyond words.

This is only the beginning.  I know my friends at SavePottstown!, Pottstown’s Blog and others in the local media are deeply committed to moving our community forward and making it all it can be.  Groups like Code Blue and Citizens For Pottstown’s Revitalization are crucial to keeping the public focused on the tasks at hand.

We are at a fork in the road right now.  All things are aligning that will give Pottstown a choice in which direction to head.  We can keep the good old boy network, things like they have always been, don’t like change, the same people running the show etc… or we can boldly move forward and propel Pottstown to its rightful place in our region and Pennsylvania.

Change is scary and it is not easy.  People will resist, some people will lose their power while others will gain power.  If we truly care about our fair city, we need to leave our personal feelings and agendas behind and do what is best for Pottstown.

It is time to move forward and stop living in the past.

Power to the Pottstown people!