111 Layoffs Coming To South Jersey Bank

SOUTH JERSEY — Fulton Bank will lay off more than 100 employees as it shuts down several branches throughout South Jersey.

The layoffs, disclosed this month, will go into effect in November and December. Around that time, Fulton will close nine South Jersey branches, which previously belonged to Republic First Bank.

Fulton acquired Republic Bank's assets, including all of its branches, in April. The move came shortly after Republic Bank failed and got shut down by federal regulators.

Last month, Fulton's board of directors approved plans to shut down 13 former Republic Bank branches that became redundant under the merger, the company says. At the time, the company estimated that severance for laid-off employees would cost $1 million. But Fulton's public financial statements in July didn't say how many positions would get cut.

However, Fulton posted a WARN notice this month to announce 111 layoffs in New Jersey. The layoffs will go into effect on Nov. 11, Nov. 29 and Dec. 27.

During the merger, Fulton brought in more than 300 employees who worked for Republic Bank, according to a Fulton Bank spokesperson told Patch.

"As is typical with transactions of this nature, we eliminated redundant roles," spokesperson Steve Trapnell told Patch via email. "Some eliminated positions are being repurposed into wholly new positions, and we are hopeful to retain some team members whose positions are being eliminated."

Fulton is also eliminating some positions from its restructured credit and commercial teams, but it's unclear where the jobs were based. The Pennsylvania-headquartered bank has more than 200 branches and ATMs in the Mid-Atlantic.

Fulton Bank has more than 3,500 employees overall, Trapnell says.

Republic Bank operated in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Fulton Bank is also shutting down four Pennsylvania branches acquired from Republic Bank. It wasn't immediately clear whether any layoffs have been announced as a result. The Pennsylvania Labor Department has not shared a layoff notice, and a Fulton spokesperson did not answer Patch's question about potential layoffs in the state as of this writing.

Fulton will close the following locations on Nov. 22:

• 1460 E Route 70, Cherry Hill, New Jersey
• 514 N Kings Highway, Cherry Hill, New Jersey
• 1302 Route 38, Hainesport, New Jersey
• 195 N Greentree Rd., Marlton, New Jersey
• 153 Bridgeton Pike, Mullica Hill, New Jersey
• 1101 Tilton Rd., Northfield, New Jersey
• 6 Haddonfield-Berlin Rd., Voorhees, New Jersey
• 303 Egg Harbor Rd., Sewell, New Jersey
• 201 N Route 73, West Berlin, New Jersey
• 1701 John F Kennedy Blvd., Philadelphia
• 1220 N Broad Street, Philadelphia
• 8000 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia
• 2100 Street Rd., Bensalem, Pennsylvania