A Northeast Georgia bank announced plans Tuesday to consolidate four banking centers located in area supermarkets.
Community Bankshares Inc., the parent company of Community Bank & Trust, has more than 30 banking centers in 11 counties across Northeast Georgia. It has eight branches in Hall County, though only one will be affected. The other locations consolidating are in Rabun, Jackson and Clarke counties.
The branch located inside Ingles on Thompson Bridge Road will be closed, with business at that location to be consolidated with the branch at the Kroger in-store banking center a few blocks away.
“Quite frankly, even in the best of economic times, we realized that we had too many locations,” said Mike Whitmire, president of the Hall County division of Community Bank & Trust. “In today’s economic environment, it has become even more important that we, like all other financial institutions, work more efficiently and effectively.
“This is a proactive business decision and should not affect our ability to provide both superior customer service and the ultimate in banking convenience, two factors that have become an integral part of our corporate brand.”
The closings will result in layoffs of bank personnel. The company said the maximum reduction would be less than 3 percent, adding that there may be open positions in other areas that could be filled by the affected staff.
The branches will be closed by June 27.