The Sanatoga Post

POTTSTOWN PA — National Penn Bank, which operates branch offices in Sanatoga, Pottstown and Royersford, has donated $20,000 to the Schuylkill River National and State Heritage Area and Montgomery County Community College for their development of a Riverfront Academic and Heritage Center in Pottstown, the college announced Thursday (April 14, 2011).

MCCC's Pottstown PA campus will expand with the new center

The new center will be housed in the 140 College Drive building that currently serves as the heritage area’s headquarters. The building sits along the Schuylkill River Trail, and beside Riverfront Park.

The project expands the college’s Pottstown campus by transforming the three-acre brownfield site into a state-of-the-art educational facility. The center will house three technology-equipped classrooms, a state-of-the-art environmental science laboratory, and a new heritage area interpretive center.

“We hope that this gift will help us to build momentum” for the center, “which is important for the economic development of Pottstown borough and for the health of the Schuylkill River,” said college President Dr. Karen A. Stout.

The first phase of the project, anticipated for completion by Fall 2011, includes renovating the infrastructure of the currently unused portion of the building and creating the interpretive center in what is now used as the heritage area conference room.

“The interpretative center will provide educational, historic and tourist information about the Schuylkill River Heritage Area,” said SRHA Executive Director Kurt Zwikl. “It is intended to serve as a visitors’ center for the entire Schuylkill River region, and will include interactive displays and a historical overview of the river’s role in the American, Industrial and Environmental Revolutions.”

The Riverfront Academic and Heritage Center will also allow for joint programming between the College and the heritage area, with non-credit courses that promote awareness of the river as a historical, cultural and natural resource. Courses will run the gamut from historical perspectives of the region, to lessons in kayaking and bicycle maintenance.

National Penn “is pleased to support this unique partnership” to continue education “through this innovative learning experience,” said David B. Kennedy, National Penn Group Executive.

Previously owned by PECO Energy, the building served the Pottstown community as an electrical generating station starting in 1911. After sitting vacant for a number of years, the building and three-acre site were purchased by the Borough of Pottstown. The college took ownership of the site in April 2009; the heritage area leases office space in the building.

Designed to be sustainable, the college will seek environmental certification for the center and will look to incorporate a variety of sustainable adaptations, such as a green roof and geothermal energy sources, that can serve as both a tool for teaching and learning and as an energy and cost-savings alternative.

SANATOGA PA – The next fight over electronic signage in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township is scheduled for Feb. 15 (2011; Tuesday) at the southeast corner of East High Street and South Sunnybrook Road.

The bank's Sanatoga branch office on East High Street at South Sunnybrook Road, as seen in a file photo.

Actually the “battle,” as some might characterize it, will take place in the conference room at the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA, at 6 p.m. That’s when the township Zoning Hearing Board expects to consider a request by National Penn Bank to install a new digital sign on the corner where its Sunnybrook branch office is located.

Zoning board members have been at the center of several signage controversies lately.

Current township law generally restricts the size, shape and flashing frequency of lighted message signs in many areas. The board during the past 18 months, has been asked by several property owners to authorize exceptions – legally known as “variances” – that would allow them to erect signs which don’t conform to the law’s requirements.

Coventry Christian Schools, the H&K Group, the Sunnybrook Foundation, Lamar Advertising, and National Penn all have announced their desire to put digital signs to work. The township Board of Commissioners, so far, has said it wants to keep limits in place to avoid visual clutter.

An advertisement announcing the hearing on National Penn’s request appears today (Friday, Feb. 4) in The (Pottstown PA) Mercury newspaper, the township publication of record for legal notices.

The bank branch, at 1830 E. High St., is located in Lower Pottsgrove’s light commercial office district. National Penn wants permission to put up a “double-faced, internally illuminated LED (light-emitting diode) electronic message center sign,” according to the notice, that would replace but be larger than a sign already there.

A sign of that design is not permitted in the district, and commissioners want to keep it that way. They directed Solicitor R. Kurtz Holloway to appear at the hearing and oppose the request on their behalf. “I see no overwhelming reason to make a change,” Commissioner Michael McGroarty said during a Board of Commissioners’ meeting last month, and his colleagues agreed.

The meeting is open to the public, and anyone can offer comments r opinions on the matter. Be advised, however, that the hearing is a legal proceeding. Those who wish to comment will be sworn in by oath, and their testimony will be added verbatim to the hearing record by a court stenographer.

Related:

• Hearings Scheduled For National Penn’s Sanatoga Sign
• Lower Pottsgrove, Lamar Negotiating Over Sign Request
• All Signs Point To More Township Signage Talk Tonight
• Anticipated Township Billboard Battle Gets A Reprieve
• Legal Fight Shapes Up Over Signs In Lower Pottsgrove
• Advertisers Propose Colorful, Electronic Sign In Township

BANK BRANCH MARKS 25TH YEAR – The Royersford PA branch office of National Penn Bank, 793 Main St., recently observed the 25th anniversary of its opening with an event that included community leaders. “We are all very excited that our branch has reached this milestone,” said office Manager Tom Spann. “Our former and current employees deserve all the credit for our success.” Attending the celebration, from left, were state Rep. Tom Quigley, Spann; the bank’s central region director of retail banking, Jim Ferry; state Sen. John Rafferty, and Greg Francis, campaign manager for Congressman Jim Gerlach.

PHILADELPHIA PA – Warburg Pincus, a private equity investment firm headquartered in New York City, apparently likes what it sees in the local banking business. It intends to buys 10 percent or more of the stock of National Penn Bancshares Inc., the company that controls National Penn Bank, according to an advertisement placed Friday (Oct. 22, 2010) in The (Pottstown PA) Mercury newspaper by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

The east side of National Penn Bank's branch office in Sanatoga on South Sunnybrook Road.

National Penn operates one of its many branch offices at the corner of East High Street and South Sunnybrook Road in Sanatoga village, as well as others in Pottstown, Gilbertsville, Boyertown, North Coventry, Douglassville, Royersford and Phoenixville.

The proposed $150 million stock purchase is no surprise to the Boyertown-based bank, which announced its agreement with the investors earlier this month (Oct. 6). “We are excited to have Warburg Pincus join us as a significant shareholder,” National Penn President Scott V. Fainor said. Warburg Pincus would be the banking company’s largest shareholder, controlling a total of 16.4 percent of its outstanding shares, The (Easton PA) Express-Times newspaper reported earlier this week.

Money from the firm’s stock purchase would be used to speed up the bank’s ability to repay U.S. Treasury loans, Fainor said.

The Fed, whose announcement in The Mercury was published as a legal notice in a newspaper of public record, has the power to approve or deny Warburg Pincus’ plans. Consequently, the notice added, it is seeking written comments on the proposal by Nov. 11. Those interested in commenting can address their letters to The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 10 Independence Mall, Philadelphia PA 19106.

The Fed is the central banking system of the United States, and its Philadelphia bank supervises banking activities in portions of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. It “considers a number of factors” – including public comments – “in deciding whether to approve” a request like that of Warburg Pincus, its notice said. It may even conduct a public meeting or formal notice on the request if there is sufficient interest, it added.

The firm’s specific fund that would make the purchase, Warburg Pincus Private Equity X LP, is valued at $15 billion and was opened during 2007. Its declared stock ownership also includes shares of MBIA Inc., a provider of financial guarantee insurance; consumer insurer Primerica Inc.; Sterling Financial Corp., a bank holding company in Spokane WA; and Webster Financial Corp., another bank holding company in Waterbury CT.

SANATOGA PA – Shredding confidential and personal documents, it seems, is an early morning affair.

Hanna Hartman, manager of the National Penn Bank branch on East High Street in Sanatoga PA, said dozens of area residents had arrived within just the first hour Saturday (May 1, 2010) for the bank’s sixth year in providing free shredding services to the community.

• See a video of the event, above, or watch it at The Post’s YouTube account.

Cars filled with boxes destined for disposal streamed up South Sunnybrook Road to the bank parking lot entrance, where National Penn employees helped unload and dump their contents into plastic bins. The bins then were wheeled over to an industrial-grade shredder that chewed full-sized sheets into unrecognizable bits of confetti.

Which is exactly what the public hoped for, said National Penn Community Relations Specialist Mary Sobjak. Since the bank began promoting such events in 2005, she reported, its shredders have ground through about 144 tons of confidential paper. Seventy-five tons were pulped last year alone.

The numbers could climb higher this year, Sobjak added. The bank has scheduled 25 shredding events across its service area during 2010.

Outside the bank.

SANATOGA PA – To raise awareness of identity theft and help consumers keep personal information safe, the Sanatoga branch office of National Penn Bank, 1830 E. High St., Pottstown PA, will be the staging ground Saturday (May 1, 2010) for a spring “Community Shred Day” event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

This event has been added to The Post calendar.

A mobile shredder truck sponsored by the bank will accept, shred and securely dispose of up to four boxes (no larger than 16 inches long, 13 wide and 10 high) of paper records per individual. No-longer-needed receipts, invoices and other personal documents all are prime candidates for shredding.

Removal of small paper clips and staples isn’t necessary; they’ll go through the shredder. However, plastic binders or metal binder spring clips won’t, so be sure they are removed. Shredding will be held rain or shine.

Similar events are scheduled at the bank’s branch offices May 12 in Doylestown, May 15 in Greenville DE and Bethlehem PA, May 19 in Wyomissing, May 22 in Hazleton and Philadelphia, June 5 in State College and Morgantown, June 12 in Bensalem and West Chester, and June 26 in Emmaus.

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BOYERTOWN PA – High trading volume and a sharp decline in the price Wednesday (June 17, 2009) of publicly traded stock of Boyertown-based National Penn Bank coincided with the end of its offer to sell stock at a 10-percent discount under a dividend reinvestment and stock purchase plan begun last November, the bank said in a press release issued Wednesday after the close of business.

“We are not aware of any other reason for this unusual trading activity,” bank President and Chief Executive Officer Glenn E. Moyer said in the statement.

The bank operates branch offices in Sanatoga, Pottstown and Royersford.

When it launched the offering, the bank had hopes to raise $75 million in capital. It ended the program about six months earlier than expected, after raising $72.8 million. “We are particularly pleased that we achieved this capital-raising goal well ahead of our original schedule,” Moyer said.

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BOYERTOWN PA – Pottsgrove School District students are among those who benefit from a $5,000 charitable contribution recently made by Boyertown-based National Penn Bank to the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation, which provides vocational and career development programs to area schools.

National Penn Bank’s Scott Gruber, left, presents chamber President Timothy Phelps with a check.

The money, distributed to the foundation in mid-March (2009), is part of $300,000 National Penn and its various divisions will donate to educational causes statewide during 2009 under the Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program.

The program “is truly a win-win for businesses like National Penn and the community,” said National Penn Central Region President Scott Gruber. The bank earns tax credits to lower its costs, and recognized educational improvement organizations such as the foundation receive funding for their school initiatives.

In addition to Pottsgrove students, chamber foundation programs involve those in the Boyertown, Owen J. Roberts, Pottstown, Spring-Ford, and Upper Perkiomen school districts, as well as Montgomery County’s Western Center for Technical Studies. Under the EITC, activities eligible for funding include portfolio-making courses, student and professional shadowing-for-a-day, student exchanges, digital photography studios, leadership conferences and mural arts.

The foundation was created in 2001, the same year in which the Pennsylvania Legislature approved EITC. It has been a funding recipient since 2002.

Photo from the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce

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SANATOGA PA – National Penn Bank (NPB), which operates a branch office on East High Street, won preliminary approval from the federal government Wednesday (Nov. 26, 2008) to participate in the Treasury Department‘s Troubled Assets Relief Program.

The bank said it would receive $150 million from Treasury to help stimulate economic recovery by expanding relationships with consumer and business customers.” In return, Treasury could take an ownership interest in the bank, just like any other stockholder, and receive 1.47 million shares of NPB stock valued at $150 million at a stock price of $15.24 per share.

The bank “is well capitalized” and “has a long history of financial strength,” said President Glenn E. Moyer, so it wasn’t desperate for Treasury’s money. It’s availability, however, gives National Penn additional resources for “the challenges facing the economy,” Moyer added.

Mary Ann Imes of Pottstown, and You-Know-Who.

SANATOGA PA – Mary Ann Imes drove just a few miles east from her Pottstown home Saturday (Nov. 22, 2008) to do some banking at the National Penn Bank branch, 1830 E. High St., and ran into Santa Claus. He was making the rounds in the company of branch manager Hanna Hartman, greeting children and adults alike with a wave, a smile, and the usual ho-ho-ho. But, no, he wasn’t handing out cash samples as gifts. “Too bad,” said one man with a smile as he exited the bank. “I coulda used some.”