Brentwood Bank’s connection to steelworkers
Thomas Bailey has been CEO for 22 years at Brentwood Bank, a community bank founded here in 1922 during the early, gritty days of the steel industry.
A Brentwood native and graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, he has spent his entire career at the bank — formed as Tunnel Building and Loan — starting out as assistant bookkeeper and teller.
The enduring South Hills bank has about 100 employees, roughly $850 million in assets and five area offices. In addition, representatives spend a couple of hours a week at eight senior living centers in Allegheny County serving residents there.
Mr. Bailey, 60, recently talked with the Post-Gazette about the bank’s origins and how it competes with the bigger banks in town.
This interview was edited for space and clarity.
PG: Let’s talk about the bank’s history, since it’s celebrating 100 years this year. The bank was founded in 1922, four years after the end of World War I, as Tunnel Building and Loan. Where does that name come from?
A: The bank was run by directors and one employee. So they would meet steelworkers outside the trolley tunnel (connecting the South Hills with Downtown). They would collect people’s paychecks and the next day give them back receipts and loan payment books and things like that. People were trusting back then. People had started to move outside of the city and (businesses and residents) recognized the need for a local bank to finance houses.
We didn’t have a physical office for the first several years. Then we rented office space, and in the 1950s, we built our first location at 3635 Brownsville Road, which still exists today. Our main office is in Bethel Park.
PG: What else about the bank’s history stands out?
A: Back in the 1960s, the bank brought in an in-house computer system — it partnered with NCR Corp. — which was kind of unheard of then. We showcased it to other banks across the country.
PG: How does a small community bank like yours compete with much bigger rivals in town such as PNC, Citizens and FNB, which are
the top three in the Pittsburgh market?
A: As a community bank, the advantage we have is working more consultively with customers, but still providing them with all the bells and whistles that larger organizations offer. We can get the same technology that all the large banks have.
PG: Small banks typically say they compete with bigger banks by offering more personalized service. Give me some examples of what that means.
A: When you are larger, smaller businesses may fall by the wayside. But small mom-and-pop businesses are our bread and butter.
Unique, small businesses out there are very good at what they do, but may not be as savvy as they need to be on the finance side. So one of our bankers sits down with them and tries to build them the loan or product they need.
We work with small apartment building owners (for example) and help them more efficiently collect rent.
PG: Is Brentwood Bank looking to expand through acquisitions?
always looking for opportunities.
We’re
In 2019, we merged Union Building and Loan in Bridgewater in Beaver County into our organization. It was a smaller bank that didn’t have the economies of scale to operate.
PG: Have you done other acquisitions?
A: Union Building and Loan in 2019 was the first and only.
PG: What about the bank are you most proud of?
A: Two things. First, the people who work for us. I’m amazed at how caring they are and at some of the ingenuity that comes up.
During the pandemic, we had an office in a strip mall that didn’t have a drive-through. Employees were able to operate a walk-up window so you could still be safe. One of our employees thought of that. Our lenders met people in the parking lot to do loans and sign paperwork.
Second is the directors, who have the vision to move forward.
PG: Is there anything about Brentwood Bank you think people would be surprised to know?
A: Yes. I don’t think people recognize how much banking can be done at a community bank. We provide 90% of what a large bank does and do it just as well.
And the benefit of redeploying money in the community.
PG: Big banks were under fire for years from consumer advocates for the way they processed transactions by clearing checks and debit card transactions from highest amount to lowest, which tends to trigger more overdraft fees. As a result, many stopped that practice and now process transactions in the order they come in. What is Brentwood Bank’s policy?
A: They are processed how they are presented (in the order they come in). We know a lot of our customers, so having overdraft protection available to people provides us the opportunity to maybe help people when a mistake is made vs. a habitual overdrafter.
We make most of our money on the interest spread between what we charge on a loan and what we pay on deposits. Ninety percent of our money comes from that, not fees.
PG: Is there anything you would like to add?
A: There is consolidation in the banking industry, but community banks are alive and well and we look forward to the next 100 years.