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| Additional information |
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| Citizens Bank |
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Mission statement:
Citizens Bank of Amsterdam operates as a state-chartered, independent community bank to serve the financial needs of our community, provide a positive work environment for our employees, and to generate profit for our shareholders. |
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Overview:
Citizens Bank is a financial institution that focuses on identifying and meeting the lending, investment, savings and checking account needs of the people and businesses in our community. We believe that our excellent customer service in the form of prompt responsiveness, unique ability to custom tailor products to individual requirements, and the friendly and positive attitude we bring to banking sets us apart from others.
Our work environment is unprecedented among banks in its design that allows the individual employee flexibility in the hours and days they want to work, with full benefits and a pension plan. Full-time or part-time, we at Citizens Bank are here because we want to be, serving you, the customer. We really try hard to make it a pleasant experience for everyone. It’s been one of the secrets of our success. Come see for yourself!
We’re a for-profit company that has been around for over 80 years. We believe that if a product, a price, or a fee schedule isn’t a good deal for you, it’s not a good deal for us either. We take a very long view on customer relationships and price our products accordingly. We want to serve not only you, but also your children and grandchildren. Repeat business is our best business! |
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History:
Citizens Bank of Amsterdam opened on January 19th, 1926, with $30,447.55 in assets and $1,815.95 in cash. A 26 year-old young man named E.J. Evens and his wife Mabel, came from Foster, Missouri where he had worked in another small town bank for several years to start a bank in the vacant facility that had earlier housed the failed Bank of Amsterdam. Although the depression didn’t officially begin until 1929 for most of the urban United States, much of the rural Midwest was in dire straits a lot earlier. Other local towns’ banks, such as Merwin’s, also failed at about the same time. However, E.J. was an ambitious young man who knew how a bank should be run, and he didn’t have much trouble enlisting 44 other citizens of the Amsterdam community to start a new bank. He sold a total of $100 shares at a price of $100 per share to raise $10,000 in capital. The bank prospered under Mr. Evens for the next 51 years. Even during the 1930’s when a startling number of banks were declared insolvent and depositors lost much of their savings, E.J. maintained the bank’s safety and soundness. The “Bank Holiday” declared by President Roosevelt on march 5th, 1933 was just a day off for the employees of the Citizens bank of Amsterdam; for bank examiners, its solvency was never in question, just as it never was for E.J. Evens.
In 1977, Larry and Jean Shannon bought the Bank from the Evens. Larry was a cattleman who had grown up in the community and had only known one bank in his life; the Citizens Bank. He had become a director a few years earlier when a vacancy on the board occurred. Larry enjoyed seeing how banks put borrowers and lenders together to enhance everyone’s lives, so when E.J., at the then age of 77, approached him about buying the bank, he was excited about the prospect of a new career. Jean immediately began work at the bank, quitting her job on the production line for the world famous Bass Buster Lure Company, also located in Amsterdam, so she could begin to learn banking and thereby help her husband in running the bank.
Things have changes quite a bit in banking since 1977. Posting accounts, which was done by hand then, is now done with computer; ATMs can perform the most important job of a teller, handling currency transaction; and community banks have branched into other towns and markets. Citizens bank has kept up with all those changes too! Up-to-date information technology allows employees to efficiently and effectively operate the numerous systems that result in a wide variety of excellent financial products available to meet the investment, savings, checking account, and lending needs of the individuals and businesses in the community. In 1991 Larry and Jean opened a branch banking facility in Cleveland, Missouri, and soon followed with the installation of an ATM and the issuance of debit cards.
In June 2004, Larry and Jean’s son, Randy, retired from the U.S. Army after 20 years of active duty service, and joined the Citizens Bank team. Randy’s last job in the Army was as the commander of a 600 man artillery battalion on the DMZ in Korea, so leading an important organization with great responsibility is not something new to him. Additionally, his educational background majoring in Banking and Finance at the University of Missouri (BSBA, 1984) and experience of the past six years serving as a member of the banks’ Board of Directors gives him valuable insight into not just banking, but more importantly, banking at Citizens Bank. So it was a natural transition recently that when Larry retired, Randy became President and CEO. Randy continues his drive to be a positive influence with those around him, and is a real “people person” who understands the value of long-term relationships and excellence in customer service. In the past Randy has led soldiers successfully in peacetime and in combat, and we are quite confident that he will lead Citizens Bank successfully into the future.
“Small enough to know you, large enough to serve you”, Citizens Bank still lives that motto every singe day. Our customer service can’t be beat, and is the reason that the big banks can’t compete with us. We make the lending decision right here, right now. We don’t have to call someone in a distant city. Same with rates, term and payment configuration, we work with you to build the product that fits your special circumstances best. Finally, we hire only the best people to be part of our team. Their experience, positive attitude, and desire to help you are unsurpassed and will continue to be the proudest part of the history of the Citizens Bank of Amsterdam.
Citizens Banks’ senior management understands the value of consistency and predictability when it comes to taking care of people’s banking business. That’s why things at our bank evolve so slowly and only after great research and consideration. One of the changes we have made over the last few years is the addition of on line “internet” banking for those who like the convenience of banking from home, or wherever they have access to a computer. Another was the opening of a branch in Adrian in late 2004 that also increased the access and convenience of banking for our customers. And most recently, we just opened a branch in Drexel to provide even more coverage of our market area, enhancing our convenience, and better serving our community. With our recent branching, customers often ask us if we’re going to move our banking charter to Drexel, or if we’re going to branch to Kansas City next. We are glad to be able to reassure them that no, we’ll always be the country bank from Amsterdam, and no, we’re not going anywhere near Kansas City. Our single focus is serving and being part of the handful of small communities on the Missouri-Kansas state line. We want to be a positive influence here, bringing capital, opportunity and a better standard of living to our community. Big corporate banks often take capital away from rural areas to invest in the lucrative and fast growing suburbs, at the expense of the local communities that earned and saved that money. We stand in stark contrast to that kind of bank. Just watch us, our actions speak louder than any printed or spoken word.
As the world rapidly changes, we at Citizens Bank try to slow those changes just a little, so that our children and grandchildren can enjoy the feeling of community that you can find only in the small towns across this great country of ours. Another thing at Citizens bank that hasn’t changed in over 80 years is E.J. Even’s idea of a country bank that worked for the community, and his motto: “Small enough to know you, large enough to serve you." |
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