Independent Banker - September 2018 - 57

The First Citizens National Bank of Upper Sandusky, founded 1860
Upper Sandusky, Ohio
T
he First National Bank opened
its doors in 1860, with Thomas
V. Reber as president and Sylvester
Watson as cashier, says Mark
Johnson, president and CEO of the
$281 million-asset community bank.
In 1946, the First National Bank and
Citizens Savings Bank consolidated,
forming the First Citizens National
Bank of Upper Sandusky.
" We still have the original general
ledgers the bank tellers had written
from 1860, and coins from the late
1800s decorate an old teller line in
our main offi ce, " Johnson says.
Thomas A. Reber served as
president of First Citizens through
the consolidation from 1932 until
he died in 1967, and his son, Albert
Reber, was then elected president.
The founder's grandson and greatgrandson
followed him. Today,
Nancy Reber Johnson, Thomas V.
Reber's great-great-granddaughter,
is chairman.
" For most of our years, banking
stayed the same, " Mark Johnson says.
" Then, after the Great Recession,
things have dramatically changed,
and it's accelerating today. "
First Citizens has added staff with
engineering backgrounds to help
the community bank launch the
latest customer-facing technologies,
including mobile banking, and also to
automate many internal operations,
he says. The bank now off ers a voiceover
internet system and is upgrading
communication in the boardroom for
video conferencing.
" We've also added brick-andmortar, "
Johnson says. " A new
branch in Marion, Ohio, has a tech
bar, café, teller money pods and bigscreen
TVs. "
The community bank's strategic
plan, called its " Big Hairy Audacious
Goal, " is to double its market
shares in markets served, including
Columbus and Marion, Johnson says.
" Our culture has not changed.
We're still known as 'Old Reliable
on the Square,' " Johnson says. " The
vision statement we adopted in
2008 states that every customer is a
customer for life, and 'Old Reliable on
the Square' ties into that. As a small
community bank, we have to bring
value to the customer experience and
what we can do for small businesses. "
Where will your bank be in another 158 years?
" I see our bank as a one-stop
fi nancial shop, serving people's
entire fi nancial needs
across the board.
I think fi nancial
solutions for
people in the
future will
look drastically
diff erent-there
may not even be
currency. I also see our bank
growing to become a regional
Midwest bank. "
-Mark Johnson, The First Citizens
National Bank of Upper Sandusky
ª
Clockwise from left: The First Citizens National Bank of
Upper Sandusky's main off ice today; employees Tweila
Keller and Ellen Johnson in the vault; the bank's board
of directors at its 64th anniversary celebration in 1952;
Thomas A. Reber, bank president from 1932 until 1967; and
construction of the current main off ice building in 1907.
independentbanker.org Q 57
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Independent Banker - September 2018

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