It is the wooing of Fort Wayne.

Residents are experiencing election year-like campaigning from companies seeking to take advantage of business changeovers – and it’s getting feisty.

For example, as PNC Bank in June was finalizing conversion of the National City Bank locations it had acquired in 2008, Grabill Bank saw an opportunity to reach out to potential customers. The small Grabill Bank sent out a mailing that touted its stability and local ties.

Comcast Corp. sent out similar correspondence to Verizon Communications Inc.’s consumers who might feel uncertain about the company’s selling its northeast Indiana business to Frontier Communications Corp.

Federal regulators approved the $8.6 billion deal in May. It allowed Verizon to sell 4.8 million residential and small-business phone lines and 1 million broadband connections in rural and small-town markets to Frontier.

The sale nearly triples Frontier’s customer base. The deal became final Thursday.

But competitors began taking shots at Frontier long before that.

“It all started with the negative ads we see in politics,” said Tim Borne, founder and chief executive officer of Asher Agency, a Fort Wayne public relations firm.

“That kind of marketing works best for locally based companies because they’re a familiar name, but not so much for big companies.”

Convincing customers to trust large out-of-state businesses is a tough sell because they’re seen as what’s wrong with the economy, Borne said.

Government bailouts for corporations and banks have made it tough for national names, he added.

“No doubt about it,” Borne said.

Karen Cameron also believes the backlash has had an effect.

Cameron, executive vice president of corporate services for Grabill Bank, said the general public is fed up with the dominoes falling in corporate America.

“There’s always a sense of, ‘Oh my gosh, here we go again,’ when another company takes over,” she said.

“Many people are returning to local community banks because they feel they know them and there’s a level of comfort there,” she said, adding it’s too soon to gauge whether National City customers are migrating to Grabill.

Enticing people to switch banks – even after a buyout – isn’t easy, though.

“Nine times out of 10, people are going to stay where they are unless there are major changes,” Cameron said.

Grabill and other local banks, nonetheless, continue to try to capitalize on hometown trust in marketing campaigns.

And as competition between Frontier and Comcast heats up, “they’re still” viewed as a pair of disconnected, outside companies by many residents, Borne said.

“It’s kind of the pot calling the kettle black,” he said, referring to national companies pledging local commitment to an area that is not their headquarters. “That’s how it seems to people.”

Comcast officials disagree, of course.

Mike Hooker, the telecommunications giant’s general manager for northern Indiana, said “we’re already entrenched in the community” and have several outreach efforts to prove it. “We’re very pleased with the Fort Wayne area. We’re here to stay.”

The implication being that maybe Frontier isn’t.

In a letter to Frontier customers, Comcast made it a point to mention that its competitor is “best known as a rural home telephone provider.”

Critics have said Frontier might not be able to handle the landline phone, Internet and cable divisions Verizon operated.

“I consider the letter a pitch to reach potential customers,” Hooker said.

Comcast, Verizon and Frontier don’t release the number of customers in northeast Indiana for competitive reasons.

Frontier Senior Vice President Don Banowetz says he is unfazed.

The 75-year-old company had $6 billion in revenue in 2009 and will have more than 1 million access lines in northeast Indiana. The company expects less than 2 percent of its client base to change providers.

“We’re not as large as Verizon, but we’ve delivered,” Banowetz said.

“We’re not into slick advertising. We’re just excited to get into the market and anticipate the transition going very smoothly,” he said. “Nothing will change.”

Tom Hansen isn’t so sure. The 67-year-old real estate agent says he is a bit skeptical.

“I just wonder if they can handle what they’re taking on,” Hansen said. “I know of other companies who’ve attempted this, and it did not go well.”

Retiree Judy Turner said she is trying to remain optimistic.

“You hope they must know what they’re doing. I mean, after all they are a big company,” the 64-year-old said.

“I think everything will be OK.”

pwyche@jg.net