Community Bank names John Montgomery president and CEO

CB Financial Services, Inc., the parent company of Community Bank, on Friday announced the appointment of John H. Montgomery as its new president and CEO, replacing Barron “Pat” McCune, Jr.

McCune, a longtime Community Bank officer who led the bank from 2005 until 2018, came out of retirement in January to serve as interim bank president when Patrick O’Brien, who had been named to the post two years earlier, resigned. Officials said McCune will stay on as an executive consultant through March 2021 to ease the transition.

The 119-year-old company, based in Carmichaels, lists assets of $1.4 billion and 26 Community Bank branches in three states, including offices in Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

McCune, who welcomed Montgomery at a luncheon Friday, said Community Bank boasts a strong legacy in the region.

“We never closed, always made a profit and always paid a dividend,” he said.

Montgomery, a Philadelphia area native, will take the helm Aug. 31. He previously served as chief credit officer at First Bank of St. Louis. The bank executive with 30 years of experience in the industry relocated to St. Louis in 2014 after a banking career in Central Pennsylvania.

Mark Fox, chairman of CB Financial Services, said Montgomery’s appointment was the culmination of a national search. Fox said the search committee decided Montgomery was well-suited to shepherd the bank’s growth in the future.

His appointment comes on the heels of a report of a decline in net income for the first six months of the year. According to public filings, the bank’s net income for the first six months of 2020 was $3.7 million, down from $5.9 million from the same period last year.

Montgomery said he is concerned that the full economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic has yet to be felt. But he is confident the bank will weather the storm.

“The legacy, the brand is impeccable,” Montgomery said. “The strength of being able to continue dividends and earn through the great recession says a tremendous amount about the bank and its market, the employees and the community. The connection is palpable.”