Citizens State Bank will open its office in Stan ley in the former Associated Bank location at 118 N. Broadway St. on October 1, 2021. The bank has received regulatory approvals to open in Stanley and plans are well underway for the new branch, which will employ up to four.

President and CEO, Tim Cruciani, and Region Manager, Hannah Cowan, shared plans for the new bank on 7/23/2021. Citizens State Bank was founded in 1902 in Cadott, WI where its headquarters is located. The bank also has two branches in Chippewa Falls and one in Cornell.

Some renovations to rebrand the bank are underway, and the bank is eager to help in the Stanley com-

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Region Manager Hannah Cowan and President and CEO Tim Cruciani in front of the new Citizens State Bank location in downtown Stanley. Photo by John McLooone. NEW BANK

munity.

"There is a need in Stanley for another fi nancial institution,” said Cruciani. “A customer should have choices, and we’re eager to offer them the choice to bank with Citizens State Bank.”

He said Stanley was a logical choice for a new location, because of the proximity to its other locations and the fact that the bank has many customers in the area already.

“When you think about our footprint and where our home office is, this makes perfect sense for us," said Cruciani. "We have offices 15 miles to the west and 15 miles to the north. When we did the research on our customer base, we found we have a good starting point of people in Stanley, Thorp and Boyd zip codes, we have a good solid customer base. When you think about our growth- and our bank wants to grow- this is the perfect spot. It’s a wonderful community. We’re excited about the opportunity.”

“We’re also very centered around our bank being community-owned and community focused, so we really wanted to remain a community bank to be sure that we’re servicing our customers to the best of our abilities,” Cowan said.

The bank was originally formed by a group of farmers and business owners.

“They wanted a place to hold their money and to get loans, and it just grew and grew. The home office in downtown Cadott was estab lished in the late 1960s and expanded upon in 2000. It doubled in size,” said Cruciani.

The bank now employs nearly 60 people, Cruciani sees the employees as the bank’s biggest asset.

“We’re looking to set ourselves apart by the people who work inside this facility. That will be the difference-maker in my opinion. The fun part of this is to create opportunities as we grow our staff,” said Cruciani.

The full-service bank offers full consumer products for deposits, mortgages and loans for cars, trucks, and recreational vehicles. It serves many businesses and is proud of its agricultural lending operation.

“Two years ago, we brought in one of the most talented ag bankers in northwestern Wisconsin, Dan Lindeman. He’s a big deal for us, and we’re really pleased he’s part of our organization, similar to what we did when we brought in Hannah Cowan. Hannah’s really behind our growth with our branching,” said Cruciani.

Citizens State Bank has quickly become a community partner wherever its bank offices

are located.

“When we opened our Cornell location, that was a very exciting endeavor for our bank, and it’s done so well as a part of the Cornell and Lake Holcombe communities. We’re very excited for the opportunity to come to Stanley,” said Cruciani. “We feel very privileged to be able to come to this community and become a partner and a member here as well.”

Cowan added, “We’re very focused on creating personal relationships with all of our customers. We specialize in being sure that we can meet the customer’s needs as well as making sure we have a good partnership for both parties. We’ve very community focused.”

While Citizens State Bank customers can bank over the internet, the bank prides itself on its brick-and-mortar locations.

“We do have the capability for our customers to transact through the internet, but our forte is talking with people and meeting with people. We’re going to go into the community. Our bankers will meet at the businesses, at the farm, at the residence, or at the workplace. Our tagline is ‘Establishing Relationships Built on Trust.’ That’s much more doable person-to-person,” said Cruciani.

He said the bank is looking for partnering with community organizations and is very active in community functions.

“We’re looking for opportunities here, and we want to help,” said Cruciani.

Shown in the above inset and making the rounds Monday to introduce themselves to the community were Citizens State Bank employees Jory Helms (left); Brendan Haney, and Hannah Cowan. Helms is a business development banker while Haney works for the bank in commercial lending, and Cowan, as stated on page 1, is a Region Manager. Welcome!

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