Chelsea State Bank Changes Course
I am excited to begin my next chapter at Chelsea State Bank. My other half Rick is a Chelsea native, and my daughter Emma and son Cole attend school in Chelsea. Chelsea is near and dear to my heart because of the charming downtown, friendly people and great schools. I love the quick access to Waterloo Recreation Area, Ann Arbor, Detroit, and of course banking local with CSB!
It seems that I have always been destined to join Chelsea State Bank. Years ago, Ken Gietzen, then Executive Vice President, invited me to join the Chelsea State Bank family. A few years later Steve Brouwer, our client and former Chelsea State Bank board member, once again encouraged me to join. My connection with the Bank continued over the years through my relationships with several CSB employees.
Mary Lee Penney, Senior Vice President and Commercial Loan Manager, and I met for lunch last year at this time, and we started talking about succession planning at Chelsea State Bank. Because of my increasing leadership and strategic planning background and my connections to Chelsea, she recommended that I meet with John Mann, CEO. He and I met in January and we started to talk seriously about becoming the next president of the Bank.
Community Banking is always where I envisioned myself retiring, due to the culture, smaller environment, and most of all the connection to the community in which I live.
One of the strong traditions of Chelsea State Bank is their commitment to the community and its mission to give back. This too is very important to me and I will be working closely to ensure that tradition continues long into the future. Another community tradition that is important to me is financial literacy. Chelsea State Bank has always made it a priority to educate our youth on the importance of financial wellness. I want my children and those of our community to feel that we are here to help them learn to make good financial decisions, today and into their future.
Since my kids were born, I have been bringing them into Chelsea State Bank to deposit their Christmas and birthday checks. It’s exciting for me to watch how my kids’ faces light up when CSB employees make them feel welcome and encouraged.
One thing that I love is having connections in the bank and the community. It is what drew me to CSB! Just after I started with the Bank, I met a parent of one of my child’s classmates. He is a commercial banking customer of Chelsea State Bank. Living in the community in which I work is truly a gift and an opportunity.
When I’m not working, I enjoy all aspects of lake life, traveling and outdoor activities including skiing, biking, and hiking.
As for my role as the first President of Chelsea State Bank who is not a Mann or a Schaible… as well as the first female president – I look at this role in a couple of different ways. First, to be a role model for my daughter as well as all the other young ladies in our community. There are career opportunities for young aspiring ladies in finance, and I hope to mentor the next generation of women bankers. Furthermore, I believe in leading by example. We are all vital to the Bank’s success, we just have different roles to fill. Finally, I am super excited to be the first to change history yet preserve the wonderful traditions of this community bank that has been locally grown since 1897 – that’s 122 years of success.
For more information about Joanne, see the June Press Release Announcement.
