YOUNGSTOWN — Farmers National Bank plans to build a $9 million building near its main office in Canfield, a project that further anchors the more than 130-year-old financial institution in the Mahoning Valley.

Construction on the 22,000-square-foot building at 30 S. Broad St. — next door to the headquarters at 20 S. Broad St. — is, according to Anthony Trevena, executive director of the Western Reserve Port Authority, expected to begin in July and take about 16 months to complete.

“We’re excited for them,” Trevena said. “They have over 700 employees in the community and they are good stewards … we are excited they are growing in the community.”

The port authority board Wednesday approved a preliminary capital lease agreement for the project.

Doing so enables the bank to save money on building costs through a sales tax exemption available to port authorities in Ohio on construction-related materials.

Under terms of the agreement with the port authority, it will own the project and lease it back to Farmers Bank for a period of time, typically five years.

“What it does is the capital portion, the bricks and mortar to construct the facility … not the labor, would be exempt from sales tax. It’s a program only port authorities can do,” Trevena said.

He estimates construction materials account for about one half of the $9 million, meaning Farmers Bank stands to save about $340,000 on the project through the agreement.

“It helps get the project across the finish line,” Trevena said.

No one with Farmers Bank was available Wednesday to talk about the project.

Farmers National Banc Corp., the holding company for Farmers National Bank, has grown the bank’s financial acreage through two prominent mergers / acquisitions in the past two years.

In 2021, the company acquired Cortland Bancorp Inc., the holding company of Cortland Bank, in a cash and stock deal worth about $124 million.

The next year, the company made its largest acquisition to date when measured by banking assets by acquiring Pennsylvania-based Emclaire Financial Corp., the holding company for Farmers National Bank of Emlenton, Pa.

The cash and stock deal was worth about $105 million.

As it stands, the company, founded 1887, has more than $5 billion in banking assets with 65 banking locations in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The company also operates Farmers Trust Company with five trust offices and Farmers National Insurance, LLC.

rselak@tribtoday.com