Carthage Savings and Loan says it’s opening up shop in Croghan, replacing KeyBank. For many people and businesses in the village, it’s a good news.
Making coffee is something Karen Olmstead does every day while working at Moving Mountains Cafe. Something else she does pretty much every day is go to the bank. So when she got word KeyBank in Croghan was closing, she was concerned.
“We pretty much, on a daily basis, use the bank right here in town. So in order to be able to keep doing that, we would have had to travel to Lowville or Carthage, which daily that would be an inconvenience,” she said.
Croghan resident Brenda Harnish was also troubled.
“My first thought was, ‘Oh, the older people, that would be really difficult for them because Croghan bank, the KeyBank, is within walking distance for many people,'” she said.
But with the announcement that Carthage Savings and Loan is opening up a new branch, people in the village seem to be feeling better.
“I think there is a big sigh of relief that someone is willing to still come in and do business with Croghan,” said Bruce Smith, supervisor, Buckingham Hardware.
“I think it’s wonderful because otherwise the closest bank would either be Lowville or Harrisville,” said Harnish.
Thomas Piche, CEO of Cartage Savings and Loan, says he is confident the new branch will fill the void and provide people with personal service.
“We’ve actually had boots on the ground for a few weeks, for over a month talking to the business community and municipalities and we have sent out surveys and we have had an overwhelmingly strong response from everybody,” he said.
The bank plans to try to establish a Banking Development District. This means the state will loan the branch money to help get it up and running.
“It will also will bring other programs potentially to the Croghan community. We will develop programs such as affordable housing programs, other initiatives we discover the community needs in conjugation with the state,” said Piche.
Piche says that bank staff is still looking for a permanent location for the new branch in Croghan. However, they hope to have a temporary location set up by the end of May.
“We are open to ideas and suggestions from the community. Part of mission statement is to partner with the community. We would like to be as impactful as we can,” said Piche.
Piche says that new customers can open an account at the bank’s Carthage branch or online.