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BY JOE CREWS
joe@beacononlinenews.com
Citizens Bank of Florida recently announced that the Oviedo-based bank will be opening soon in DeLand. The move marks the financial institution’s first location in Volusia County, with the branch set to open in the second quarter of 2019 — possibly as soon as early June.
The DeLand branch will be located at 1450 S. Woodland Blvd. and will be the sixth branch location of Citizens Bank.
The branch will occupy the ground floor of a four-story building — space that was vacated by Space Coast Credit Union about three years ago when it built a free-standing branch about a quarter-mile south. Citizens Bank’s new home has several drive-up teller lanes at the rear of the building.
Gloria Dunmire, a vice president of Citizens Bank of Florida, noted the DeLand opening will introduce the bank’s “unique brand of community banking” to a third county, after its founding in Seminole and subsequent establishment of additional locations in Seminole and Orange counties.
President and Chief Executive Officer Rick Lee said Hannah Elevester and Mark Figenscher will be the management team directing the bank’s growth in DeLand.
Elevester will serve as vice president and branch manager in DeLand. She brings more than three decades of experience to her new position at Citizens Bank of Florida.
In addition to her branch management duties, she will work in business development and directing community-involvement endeavors.
“We will be working diligently to serve and grow in the DeLand community,” Elevester said. “The traditions of Citizens Bank of Florida are rooted in true community banking, and we will demonstrate those traditions in DeLand as we serve the community.”
Figenscher will serve as vice president and sales manager in DeLand. He began his banking career in Atlanta in 1986 and moved to DeLand in 2001 with his wife, Lynn, and his two children.
He is a member of the DeLand Breakfast Rotary Club, the DeLand Area Chamber of Commerce and the DeLand Elks Lodge.
Citizens Bank of Florida, founded in 1946, was established by its founders to serve the financial needs of area families, business owners and farmers who had been largely ignored by big banks.
“We believe in the time-tested principles of true community banking,” Dunmire explained. “That means we provide relationship-based, service-driven banking to each person who calls us their banking home. We offer a variety of deposit account products, loan products and financial services that will meet the needs of our customers.”
“We are proud to serve as active corporate citizens in the communities we serve,” CEO Lee added. “We’ll work to be an active community member in DeLand.”
For more information about Citizens Bank, go to www.mycbfl.com.
