EXHIBIT 99

                                  Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                    DATE: July 1, 1998
Dunmore, Pennsylvania

                                  PRESS RELEASE

                     FIRST NATIONAL COMMUNITY BANCORP, INC.


Contact Person:     William S. Lance
                    Treasurer
                    (717) 348-6438

     The Board of  Directors  of First  National  Community  Bank is  pleased to
announce that, effective July 1, 1998, First National Community Bank reorganized
into a one bank holding company,  First National Community Bancorp, Inc. As part
of this  transaction,  each outstanding  share of First National  Community Bank
common stock, par value $1.25 per share, was exchanged, by operation of law, for
one share of First National  Community  Bancorp,  Inc.  common stock,  par value
$1.25 per  share.  Shareholders  do not need to take any  action  at this  time.
However,  share  certificates  bearing the name "First National  Community Bank"
will need to be  exchanged  for  certificates  bearing the name "First  National
Community Bancorp,  Inc." Shareholders will receive more information  concerning
the mechanics of the exchange in the near future.

     The Board of Directors believes that First National Community Bancorp, Inc.
will provide the best organizational  vehicle by which the Bank can continue and
enhance its mission to provide cost effective, quality financial services to the
community  and its  environs  well into the future.  The Board of  Directors  is
committed to preserving  the  community-oriented  philosophy of the Bank and its
independence. By modernizing its organizational structure, the Bank is equipping
itself to compete in the challenging markets it will face in the next century.

     First National Community Bank is a Dunmore,  Pennsylvania based institution
approaching  five  hundred  million  dollars  in total  assets.  First  National
Community Bank has branches in Dunmore,  Scranton,  Dickson City,  Wilkes-Barre,
Pittston and Kingston,  Pennsylvania.  The Bank has also announced plans to open
its eighth  community  office in Exeter,  Pennsylvania,  later this year pending
regulatory approval.