Editor's Note: The story below appeared on Connect-Bridgeport on June 4, 2017. The top photo, from Thursday, shows officials from Clear Mountain Bank, White Oaks and the City of Bridgeport. While the bottom photo shows Tim Stout addressing those gathered at today's ribbon-cutting event.

 

Early last month, an official at the White Oaks Development said that interest in the business park situated off of Interstate 79 and Jerry Dove Drive had went from bust to boom on the interest level from what happened in 2016 to 2017. That trend appears to be continuing.

 

Ron Stanley, the managing member of High Tech Corridor Development, the group responsible for development of White Oaks, confirmed that a deal has been closed with yet another business. This time, however, an existing business renting space has done well enough that it’s going to build it’s on free-standing structure.

 

“We have closed the deal on our next project and are excited for the continued growth,” said Stanley.

 

On Thursday, Chief Operating Officer Clint McCabe of Clear Mountain Bank announced that the financial institution plans on opening its 13^th location in 2018. They hope to break ground within the next few months, McCabe said. The reason to go from renting space to have space of their own was based on demand for service, said McCabe.

 

“We have a loan production office in the Percheron building that opened in September of 2015,” said McCabe. “We have a staff in that office of three very talented employees and because of that we’ve grown to the point where we need to go to the full-service line of banking.”

 

Clear Mountain Bank is not a “Johnny Come Lately” when it comes to financial institutions. The bank traces its beginnings back more than a century ago.

 

“Our bank’s history dates back to 1891 in the town of Terra Alta (Preston County) and in Bruceton Mills in 1903. We have a long, rich history of being good corporate citizens and being active in communities we service,” said McCabe. “We look forward to helping Harrison County continue to grow and expand.”

 

The bank is headquartered in Bruceton Mills. Along with that branch, there are branches in Morgantown, Preston County County, Garrett County (MD) and the soon-to-be-built structure in Harrison County.

 

Stanley said the bank has acquired a two and one-quarter acre lot that has roughly three-fourths of an acre planned for a buildout. Although not finalized, McCabe said plans are to have a building in the range of 3,200 feet. The location will be near the Holiday Inn Express and the existing White Oaks Retail Village Building.

 

“It’s tremendous to have another financial institution to serve the individuals in White Oaks, Bridgeport, Harrison County and even the surrounding areas,” said Stanley. “This adds to the choices individuals have by coming to White Oaks.”

 

McCabe said right now the plans aren’t finalized. Because of that he said he wasn’t sure of the total investment for the new building and how many new hires there will be other than that there will be expansion of staff.

 

“We do know it’s not just an investment for us, but an investment in Harrison County. We’re excited about White Oaks, Bridgeport and Harrison County because it’s a growing, thriving community,” said McCabe. “We see a lot of opportunity.”