BB&T is following up its acquisition of two of the region’s largest banks, Susquehanna and National Penn, with assurances that it plans to preserve the community banking feel in the region, writes Jeff Blumenthal for Philadelphia Business Journal.

These assurances follow BB&T’s post acquisition shake-up of its recent purchases that have resulted in the closure of 30 branches and hundreds of laid off employees. The acquisitions positioned BT&T as Philadelphia region’s sixth largest bank, with 113 branches handling 3.76 percent of all deposits.

However, despite that and the fact that BB&T is now one of the ten largest banks nationwide, it aims to run its regional operations with a community banking feel. Kelly King, Chairman and CEO of BB&T, said that for the first time in its history, the bank does not have plans to change its culture.

This also means that BB&T will not split oversight of its different banking divisions. If fact, all of BT&T’s business lines in the region will be supervised by the Philadelphia Regional President, Scott Gamble.

“Change is challenging,” said King. “Especially when you are dealing with two banks that are close together. That makes it more complex.”

Read more about BB&T’s plans at Philadelphia Business Journal by clicking here.