Citizens Alliance Bank (CAB) has agreed to acquire Butte, Montana-based Granite Mountain Bank (GMB) in a transaction that includes branches in Philipsburg and Drummond, Montana, while pledging the same “community banking” commitment Granite Mountain Bank customers are accustomed to.

“The employees, branch locations and commitment to the GMB customers will not change,” said Chad A. Forkrud, President of CAB. “Customers will be dealing with the same individuals that they deal with today.”

Jerry Sullivan, Chairman of Granite Mountain Bank, said that “although the decision to sell the bank was a difficult one, I know that CAB is focused on community banking, committed to local decision-making, and has experience operating in Montana.” Sullivan added that CAB has “a 120-year history of understanding the needs of customers throughout generations in and around all the communities they serve.”

GMB President Neil Bolton is expected to lead the current GMB offices once the merger is completed.

Citizens Alliance Bank, an independent community bank with total assets in excess of $1.2 billion, is headquartered in Clara City, Minnesota. CAB currently has three Montana offices in Great Falls, Seeley Lake and Lincoln. It also has 10 offices in rural communities in west-central Minnesota.

The transaction is contingent upon regulatory approval from the FDIC, as well as regulators in Minnesota and Montana and the shareholders of Flint Creek Holding Company, which holds Granite Mountain Bank as a subsidiary. GMB, which was established in 1940, has about $135 million in total assets.

Following the merger, GMB customers will see new banking products gradually introduced, such as bank-sourced Visa credit cards, direct access to the secondary real estate lending market, an expanded bank-lending limit, and enhanced digital banking technologies. “GMB customers will continue to experience the benefits of working with a local community bank with local decision-making authority,” said Great Falls native Ryan Fritz, senior Montana market manager for CAB.

CAB is a wholly owned subsidiary of brother-owned Forstrom Bancorporation, Inc., which will exceed $1.3 billion in consolidated assets upon integration of Granite Mountain Bank. Forstrom Bancorporation, Inc. started in Montana with its Seeley Lake office in 1998.

CAB and GMB representatives anticipate regulatory approval in the first quarter of 2023 and then closing the transaction later in 2023.

MINNESOTA LOCATIONS

Clara City         

Lobby Hours:       Monday – Friday               8:30AM – 4:00PM

Drive-Up Hours:  Monday – Friday               8:00AM – 5:00PM

Maynard

No Changes

Granite Falls   

Lobby Hours:        Monday – Friday              8:30AM – 4:00PM

Drive-Up Hours:   Monday – Friday              8:00AM – 4:30PM

Drive-Up Hours:   Saturday                            9:00AM – 12:00PM

Lake Lillian

No Changes

Echo                    

Lobby Hours:       Monday – Friday              8:30AM – 4:00PM

Drive-Up Hours:  Monday – Friday              8:00AM – 4:00PM

Howard Lake   

Lobby Hours:        Monday – Friday              8:30AM – 4:30PM

Drive-Up Hours:   Monday – Friday              8:00AM – 4:30PM

Drive-Up Hours:   Saturday                           9:00AM – 12:00PM

Watertown       

Lobby Hours:        Monday – Friday              8:30AM – 4:30PM

Drive-Up Hours:   Monday – Friday              8:00AM – 4:30PM

Drive-Up Hours:   Saturday                           9:00AM – 12:00PM

Murdock           

Lobby Hours:       Monday – Friday               8:30AM – 4:00PM

Drive-Up Hours:  Monday – Friday               8:00AM – 4:00PM

Sacred Heart     

Lobby Hours:       Monday – Friday              8:30AM – 4:00PM

Drive-Up Hours:  Monday – Friday              8:00AM – 4:00PM

MONTANA LOCATIONS: 

Seeley Lake

No Changes

Lincoln

Lobby Hours:        Monday – Friday              9:00AM – 4:00PM

Drive-Up Hours:   Monday – Thursday         8:00AM – 4:00PM

Drive-Up Hours:   Friday                                 8:00AM – 5:00PM

Great Falls          No Changes

Check back for more updates soon!

Read previous editions of the official newsletter of Citizens Alliance Bank, by clicking one of the links below:

• Quarter 1 2022
• Quarter 2 2022
• Quarter 3 2022

Congratulations Eric Nesvig

Eric Nesvig joined Citizens Alliance Bank in April 2019 in the Watertown, Minnesota, location. Most recently, he has been a loan officer in the lending department. In that role, he was responsible for servicing loan customers and building new loan relationships. As he transitions into his new role as Senior Vice President/Market Manager in Howard Lake, Minnesota, he will be responsible for overseeing daily branch operations, servicing current branch loan relationships, and cultivating new relationships.

Nesvig has been in banking for over 19 years where he had prior experience as a teller, personal banker, and commercial lender. He worked at Sioux Falls Federal Credit Union for 9 years and Minnesota Lakes Bank in Mound, Minnesota, for 7 years. Nesvig graduated from South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota, in 2003.

Nesvig is originally from Gaylord, Minnesota, and currently resides in Waconia, Minnesota, with his wife and 16-year-old son. He enjoys golfing, fishing, hunting, and watching his son play hockey and baseball.

Citizens Alliance Bank is a family-owned community bank providing financial and related banking services within local communities in Minnesota and Montana. The Bank provides integrated products and banking services that customers seek, including local empowered decision making and personalized customer service delivered with a small-town personal touch. The Bank and its shareholders remain committed to strengthening and improving the communities that its customers and employees work and live through financial literacy and economic and community development.

Congratulations Ben Hendrickson!