Five Years in Royal Oak, Rooted in Ontonagon

Five years ago today, Citizens State Bank opened a new chapter in Royal Oak. On October 4, 2021, we moved our headquarters from Ontonagon to Woodward Avenue. It was a meaningful step forward for a bank whose story began more than a century earlier in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

A foundation built in Ontonagon

Citizens State Bank began in Ontonagon in 1910. Personal service and a commitment to the community shaped the bank from the start, and those values guided the next chapter of its story.

In July 2020, the Ontonagon Herald published an article about Citizens State Bank’s new owner, Chris Yatooma. The article introduced a vision for investing in the bank while carrying forward its hometown approach to service. These are glimpses of where this chapter began, before the headquarters move the following year.

A new home in Royal Oak

When we opened our Royal Oak headquarters on October 4, 2021, it brought that approach to a new community. The photos from the opening celebration capture the people who joined us to mark the occasion and the excitement of making a home here. The Chaldean News covered the opening later that year.

President and CEO Dan Fischer has helped guide this chapter, building a team around the kind of banking that brought us here: modern tools paired with personal relationships. As our reach has grown, Dan has kept the focus on making banking easier, keeping it local, and understanding what each customer needs.

A lot has changed in five years. Our team and the communities we serve have grown, but the goal behind each conversation remains familiar: get to know the person in front of us, understand what they are working toward, and be there when they need us.

Ontonagon will always be where our story started. Royal Oak has become an important part of where it continues. To everyone who built our foundation, welcomed us to Woodward Avenue, or placed their trust in us along the way, thank you. We look forward to what we can build together next.