May 16th, 2025 - Community Bank strengthens its commercial business
Publish Date May 16th, 2025
Community Bank is continuing to expand its commercial banking business in the Pittsburgh region.
The Bank, which is the retail and commercial arm of Carmichaels-based CB Financial Services Inc., (NASDAQ: CBFV), is midway through a 10-year strategic growth plan that has included significant investments in new financial systems, technology and treasury management services. That investment, coupled with expanding its Commercial Banking Team to seven people, has generated double-digit growth in middle-market business clients.
“The Bank has had a 100-plus year run and done very well,” said Regional President Nick Walsh, who joined Community Bank two years ago to focus on expanding its commercial banking business. “It has been a strong real estate lending bank and had commercial customers that were operating businesses throughout its history, but the uptick in new clients that we’ve generated in the past two years in that middle-market segment has been absolutely dynamic, and it’s not really slowing down.”
Local focus on people leading middle-market firms
Community Bank’s Commercial Business includes real estate investors and operating companies across various industries, including trucking, manufacturing, distribution, construction and metals. These are often multi-generational businesses needing working capital, equipment financing and support for acquisitions or other growth plans.
In the first quarter of 2025, Walsh said his team helped several new customers find ways to improve their payment cycle using purchase cards more effectively, which also adds more secure ways to complete transactions to mitigate fraud and address some internal control issues.
The Commercial Banking Team also has been working closely with Community Bank’s Treasury Services, led by Jim Mele, and specialized lending groups, led by John Bartolini. Those capabilities recently helped Walsh’s team assist a client with financing a project in Europe and facilitating another client’s succession plan, which involved the owner selling the company to a long-time employee.
“There’s a lot of benefit in having that level of expertise and market knowledge,” Walsh said. “We have deep relationships in the market.”
Many of their recent conversations with business leaders have focused on how to manage economic uncertainty. In challenging times, Walsh said, it’s valuable to have a banker who can assess a business’s core health rather than just see a decline at a particular moment in time.
“We’re in somewhat of a volatile cycle with macroeconomic headwinds,” he said. “As things loosen up, there are going to be a lot of opportunities for our customers to continue to grow their business and respond to what the market looks like. We want to bring common sense and insights to help companies navigate through and expand on the other side.”
Building community connections
One way Walsh and his team have worked to expand their reach is through extensive networking and community involvement. Community Bank participates in professional events, golf outings and the like, but it also creates events of its own. These are typically invitation-only events for select clients or other business leaders to get to know each other in an informal setting, such as a watch party for an away Steelers game.
“We’ve been creating these environments that allow our clients to meet other clients, prospective clients and other influential people in the market,” Walsh said. “There’s been a lot of value created for everyone at those events, not just us. We’re not just blasting out an email to 250 people and hoping they show up. It’s more about thoughtfully inviting people to places where they can interact with others and potentially help one another.”
As Community Bank continues its outreach, Walsh said he anticipates working with more middle-market businesses in Allegheny and the surrounding counties while continuing to offer personalized, local support, and grow its strong presence in Washington County.
He also anticipates interest from businesses that are working through succession planning. Recent U.S. Census data shows that more than half of employer businesses in the U.S. are owned by people age 55 and older, representing a potentially large number of transitions in the years ahead.
“There are a lot of opportunities to help people transition businesses, whether it’s to the next generation, an employee stock ownership plan or a private equity sponsor,” Walsh said. “That’s something we want to be known for over the next five years.”
“It’s all part of continuing to build on Community Bank’s legacy. Meaningful relationships, thoughtful solutions and a commitment to local expertise are key,” he said.
Member FDIC