The bank that began two decades ago as Orangeburg National is now part of First Citizens Bank and Trust Company Inc.

Community Resource Bank’s two branches in Orangeburg – one on Broughton Street and the other on Columbia Road – took the first visible step as part of the transition Friday by changing their outdoor bank signs.

CRB, a subsidiary of Orangeburg-based Community Bankshares Inc., announced in June it was purchased by First Citizens. The transaction was valued at $96 million.

The purchase was approved in mid-October and officially closed Nov. 1, with Community Bankshares shareholders receiving $21 in cash for each outstanding common share.

Headquartered in Columbia, First Citizens Bank and Trust is a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Citizens Bancorporation Inc.

Associates from CRB will continue to be placed in positions at First Citizens this year, said First Citizens spokesperson Ashley Sherry. Bank officials have said that details on the number of employees retained or lost during the transition will not be known until the end of the year.

“Our customers will continue to receive the same personal service and attention that they have been accustomed to and when it comes to their financial needs, we’re on it,” said Mike Wolfe, First Citizens executive vice president and Orangeburg/Sumter division executive.

Wolfe said the conversion has been very smooth for customers and the bank.

“This conversion further strengthens First Citizens’ market position and will enable us to deliver even greater value to our new and existing customers,” said Jim Apple, First Citizens chairman and CEO. “We are pleased to welcome our new associates and customers to First Citizens.”

First Citizens will now operate CRB’s 10 full-service offices in Orangeburg, Sumter, Blythewood, Ridgeway, Florence and Winnsboro.

CRB’s headquarters building on Founders Court employs about 35. The future of the building, which will no longer operate as a bank headquarters, is yet undetermined.

The bank started in November 1987 when nine people formed Orangeburg National Bank, later renamed Community Resource Bank. The bank expanded into Sumter and Florence, and entered the greater Columbia market with the acquisition of the Bank of Ridgeway in 2002.

Despite a difficult 2007 in the face of a struggling real estate market and declining interest rate margins, bank officials said the merger was not about recent challenges.

Earlier this year, the CRB restructured its mortgage division, Community Resource Mortgage, resulting in the elimination of 14 jobs and an exit from the wholesale mortgage brokerage business.

As of Oct. 31, 2008, CRB had total assets of $571 million.

T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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