By Ioannis Pashakis
ipashakis@cpbj.com
F&M Trust and its holding company, Franklin Financial
Services Corp., plan to both move into a larger headquarters by the end of
2020.
The Chambersburg-based bank said this month that it expects
to close on a new corporate headquarters three miles away from its current
headquarters this year that would give the two entities room to grow.
The new building, at 1500 Nitterhouse Drive and located in
both Chambersburg and Guilford Township, is the former manufacturing facility
of Danfoss, a Denmark-based air conditioning manufacturer.
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| A rendering of F&M Trust’s new headquarters. The building is expected to be completed by the end of next year. PHOTO/SUBMITTED |
“F&M Trust’s story began in 1906 in downtown
Chambersburg and in many ways it is bittersweet to move part of our team out of
the downtown when there are so many new and exciting things happening,” said
Timothy Henry, president and CEO of F&M. “Yet, as the bank continues to
grow, we need more space in order to continue to bring high-quality service to
our customers.”
The Danfoss facility is currently owned by CFDC LLC.
CFDC is operated in equal parts by the Franklin County Area
Development Corp. and the Chambersburg Area Development Corp. It was formed in
2009 to redevelop the building into a manufacturing facility for Danfoss.
The building was sold back to CFDC by Danfoss after the
manufacturer closed the plant last December. The bank expects to purchase the
facility from CFDC for $7 million.
After completing renovations on the building, F&M will
have 67,000 square feet of space to be used by roughly 145 employees. The bank
has 285 employees total.
F&M’s headquarters currently consists of two buildings,
a 41,000-square-foot main building on 20 S. Main St. and a smaller second space
on 150 Lincoln Way East. The Lincoln Way East building houses the company’s
drive-through bank and loan service and risk management departments, according
to Shelby White, the F&M’s corporate communications officer.
The main building is planned to be sold to the Franklin and
Chambersburg development corporations for $3.3 million.
“This represents another
$3.3 million investment in the revitalization of downtown Chambersburg,” said
L. Michael Ross, president of the Franklin County Area Development Corp. “It’s
a win, win, win for everyone. It’s a great win for the community. It’s a win
for F&M Trust, and it’s a win for us.”
The services at the Lincoln Way building, excluding the
drive-through, will be moved to the new headquarters and the building will be
sold to a different entity. White said F&M expects to announce the buyer in
the coming weeks.
F&M Trust plans to open a new drive-through bank in
downtown Chambersburg but has no plans to open a bank in the borough nor will
it have one in its new headquarters.
F&M operates 22 offices in Franklin, Cumberland, Fulton
and Huntingdon counties.
