To beef up commercial lending at a branch of its Kentucky bank, PNC Bank Corp. has hired Edward T. Breathitt, a former governor of the Blue Grass State.
Mr. Breathitt will be a paid chairman of PNC's Lexington bank advisory board beginning July 1.
He'll also remain of counsel to Lexington-based Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, the largest law firm in Kentucky.
The terms of the 71-year-old former governor's contract were not disclosed.
"I will carry the flag for the bank, and will assist them in developing business," Mr. Breathitt said in an interview.
Mr. Breathitt's newly created position represents one solution to a continuing dilemma for large, out-of-state banking companies that acquire smaller, local banks.
Mr. Breathitt said it is important for out-of-state banks to keep local ties, especially in Kentucky, where the major banks are from Pennsylvania and Ohio.
The biggest banks in Lexington and in Kentucky are Banc One Corp., with $96 billion in assets; $50 billion-asset National City Corp., and $72 billion-asset PNC.
"We're trying to have as much Kentucky presence in banks as we can," Mr. Breathitt said. "I think it's important that these big banks not just place young officers in jobs so they can work their way up through the corporations."
A Democratic governor from 1963 to 1967, Mr. Breathitt's main responsibility at PNC will be to seek new commercial customers for the Lexington bank, and bring in high-net-worth individuals for investment products.
Pittsburgh-based PNC entered Kentucky 11 years ago. PNC Bank Kentucky Inc. is primarily a commercial lender with little retail banking presence. Based in Louisville, the unit has $6 billion in assets, and serves southern Indiana as well.
Michael N. Harreld, chief executive of PNC Bank Kentucky, said Mr. Breathitt will "be a major, major resource. We recognize you have to have a community presence."
Mr. Breathitt said he'll take on the business development and community relations functions, which are generally the responsibility of a chief executive.
PNC said Mr. Breathitt's new position was devised after John Haller, chief executive of PNC's Lexington market, was promoted six months ago to the bank's Ohio subsidiary in Cincinnati.
