Citizens to add 250 jobs downtown Pittsburgh

[PghUSA]

Citizens Bank to create 250 jobs in Pittsburgh

Vincent Lara-Cinisomo Pittsburgh Business Times

Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania said Monday it will create at least 250 jobs in Pittsburgh by expanding its call center Downtown.

Citizens Bank, with assets of $28 billion, has 400 branches, 120 of them in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Citizens' expansion project entails the reconfiguration of its call center operations at William Penn Place, which serves as the bank's western Pennsylvania headquarters and was the site of a news conference Monday to announce the plan.

Approximately 50 of the new positions being created in Pittsburgh have already been filled and an additional 100 employees are expected to be hired within six months, said Ralph Papa, president of Citizens Bank's Western Region.

"We think this area has an unbelievable workforce," Mr. Papa said.

Citizens will also retain 4,550 existing jobs and provide training to 1,525 current employees, Mr. Papa said, adding the company put aside $3 million for training and equipment upgrades.

He declined to say how much the jobs would pay, saying there was a wide salary range.

Gov. Ed Rendell, who attended the news conference along with Mayor Tom Murphy and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, lauded the move.

"Citizens' decision to expand in Pittsburgh will not only create family-sustaining jobs in the city, it will also have a positive impact on other communities throughout the state by creating hundreds of jobs," Mr. Rendell said. "These are 250 good jobs," he said.

The governor said the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development agreed to provide a financial package that includes a $400,000 opportunity grant and $475,000 in job creation tax credits.

"Citizens has turned out to be a great citizen, a great corporate partner," Mr. Onorato said.

Anyone interested in applying for jobs can contact one of the 19 CareerLink offices in Western Pennsylvania, including six in Allegheny County, state and local officials said. Locations and other information is available at www.pacareerlink.state.pa.us

[Cotuit]

There's a rumour that Citizens is planning to build a new headquarters in Providence, which is a little odd since it wasn't too long ago that they built their current headquarters. But the bank has been growing very rapidly, they are providing a lot of jobs in Rhode Island and promise more. They're as well regarded in these parts as they seem to be in Pittsburgh.

[PghUSA]

Cotuit, that bodes very well for Citizens as a whole if they are outgrowing their current HQ. I know they expanded into Pa. buying the old Mellon branches when Mellon went solely into the investment and private banking realm. Thanks for the info, I'd like to see the rendering for their new digs in Providence. I believe the largest structure they have is in Pittsburgh the old Mellon Bank subsidary HQ (520 ft. 41 floors). It would be nice if they gave their NA HQ in Providence the same treatment .

[Cotuit]

Thanks for the info, I'd like to see the rendering for their new digs in Providence.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Right now there is only a rumour that they are planning a new HQ, no announcement from Citizens yet, and certainly no rendering. Fleet owned the 2 tallest buildings in Providence before the BofA merger, now Citizens is the largest bank in New England, it would be nice if they had a tower to reflect that.

[PghUSA]

At 520 feet their tower in Pittsburgh would be their best landmark structure (if you think skyscrapers beat lowrise HQ) to date I guess. Being a Providence institution though it'd be great to see them give back to their hometown skyline eventually. The green logo sign on their Pittsburgh HQ makes a nice addition to what was a kind of old skyscraper box in the "International Style". They have fixed the building up some after taking it over from the Mellon retail sale . . . though some still hold a grudge against Citizens in these parts. They had claimed that they would make the tower their state HQ but what many feared eventually happened they are splitting state HQ with the larger and more profitable Philadelphia market. Smart business move I must admit but they are basically running out of the old Mellon branches throughout the state, all originating in Pittsburgh. I'd like to see them at least give Providence a 521 foot skyscraper might make beantown jealous some!

[glassandsteel]

Do you have any pictures of it? Just curious.

[urbanophile]

At 520 feet their tower in Pittsburgh would be their best landmark structure (if you think skyscrapers beat lowrise HQ) to date I guess.  Being a Providence institution though it'd be great to see them give back to their hometown skyline eventually.  The green logo sign on their Pittsburgh HQ makes a nice addition to what was a kind of old skyscraper box in the "International Style".  They have fixed the building up some after taking it over from the Mellon retail sale . . . though some still hold a grudge against Citizens in these parts.  They had claimed that they would make the tower their state HQ but what many feared eventually happened they are splitting state HQ with the larger and more profitable Philadelphia market.  Smart business move I must admit but they are basically running out of the old Mellon branches throughout the state, all originating in Pittsburgh.  I'd like to see them at least give Providence a 521 foot skyscraper might make beantown jealous some!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is this the former Three Mellon Bank Center (which was, before that, the U.S. Steel Building)?? Its a boring building but it sure has had many reincarnations.

[Cotuit]

I'd like to see them at least give Providence a 521 foot skyscraper might make beantown jealous some!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Haha, I don't think Boston would notice much if we got a 521ft building. Our current tallest, The Superman Building (aka the Bank of America Building, aka the National Bank Building, aka The Fleet Building...) is 428ft. I doubt we'll get a new tallest, and I really don't care if we do. A 300 footer would be nice. The rumour on their new HQ referred to it as a 'campus' which I find to be a terrifying word!

[PghUSA]

Is this the former Three Mellon Bank Center (which was, before that, the U.S. Steel Building)??  Its a boring building but it sure has had many reincarnations.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Correct. The building was built at the height of the ugly and antiseptic "international style" in the early 1950s. It was the U.S. Steel/Mellon Bank Bldg. originally--never solely U.S. Steel. If you ever go down there the original Mellon Bank Building (dating back to the 1920s or before I guess) the lowrise romanesque columned structure is actually part of the (now) Citizens Bank Tower structure. Both are on the block between William Penn Place and Wood Street. The original bank building which was an architectural marvel has been converted into retail space recently (a whole other thread). The 520 foot office tower on its eastern wall was basically room to expand Mellon's HQ. It was Mellon/US Steel up until 1970 or so and then Mellons HQ until they moved a block east on Grant in the early 1980s, Citizens Financial now has it, and I'm with the consensus on this one it is looking sharper then it has in years thanks to Citizens polishings.