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Small-Business Assistance Program Celebrates
$100 Million Milestone

PLAINS TOWNSHIP, PA, April 25, 2005 — Closed for nearly a decade, the former Maffett Elementary School in Plains Township came back to life today in the form of an attractive office center with new jobs — one of 56 small-business projects in the area funded by an innovative, low-cost banking initiative.

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony and building tour, U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski (PA-11) praised the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh (FHLBank) for working with local financial institutions and making funds under its low-cost Banking On Business (BOB) program available to new or expanding small businesses. Rep. Kanjorski was a leader in enacting the regulatory changes that enabled the FHLBank to offer the program.

Across its three-state region of Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the FHLBank is celebrating a $100 million milestone in small-business funding, representing the Bank's more than $16 million in BOB program funding to date, coupled with a total of $75.1 million in member bank financing and approximately $9 million in borrower equity.

In northeastern Pennsylvania, the FHLBank is working with nine member banks to make small-business growth plans more bankable. Together, they have put forward a combined $28.9 million in funding for the purchase of land, buildings, equipment, machinery and leasehold improvements, permanent working capital and closing costs. In all, more than 900 area jobs have been created or retained through the BOB program.

Area community banks participating in the FHLBank's Banking On Business program are: Columbia County Farmers National Bank, Community Bank & Trust Company, Dime Bank, Fidelity Deposit and Discount, First Federal Bank, First National Community Bank, Luzerne National Bank, Omega Bank and Penn Security Bank.

"The conversion of Maffett Elementary School is a prime example of how our Banking On Business program places jobs and property on the tax rolls while improving neighborhoods," stated Jay Roy, president and chief executive officer of the FHLBank of Pittsburgh and a speaker at today's event. "In five short years, and by working closely with Congressman Kanjorski and community banks in the area, we've been able to make the dreams of more than 50 small businesses come true, freeing capital that might otherwise not have been available to them."

Maffett Elementary remained shuttered until The A + E Group, Inc. (formerly The Architectural and Engineering Group) decided to vacate its Commerce Boulevard location in Wilkes-Barre and renovate the aging schoolhouse. The 82-year-old elementary school had been closed in 1997 due to physical deterioration and building consolidations. The FHLBank's BOB funds were combined with a first mortgage from Community Bank & Trust Company, one of the Bank's member financial institutions, to provide more than $1.5 million in financing.

Thomas P. Cooney and Dean L. Butler, principals in The A + E Group and investors in Maffett Hill LLC, the corporation formed to own and operate the building, then recruited Cornell Storefront Systems of Forty Fort, the leading supplier of rolling and side-folding security closures for retailers. Cornell Storefront moved into the first floor of the building in January 2005, bringing 30 new jobs to the area, and discussions are under way to locate a tenant in the basement portion of the project. The FHLBank of Pittsburgh also decided to take space in the new facility, relocating its regional office from West Market Street in Wilkes-Barre. Today, approximately 60 area residents work inside the old schoolhouse, breathing new life into a Plains Township neighborhood.

"Thanks to Congressman Kanjorski's vision and the willingness of Community Bank & Trust and the FHLBank to provide low-cost funding, we were able to convert Maffett Elementary into a jobs-creating, tax-generating home for several businesses," said Cooney. "We encourage other businesses interested in startup or expansion to learn more about the BOB program and how it can assist them."