[Kriegel Holding Company, Inc. Acquires a Good Relationship with Citizens National Bank]
Having acquired 18 different business entities in 7 years, Kriegel Holding Co., Inc., knows the importance of stability combined with forward thinking to ensure success. They’ve found these same qualities reflected in their relationship with Citizens National Bank. Mark Miller, CFO/Treasurer of Kriegel states, “It’s comforting to work with the same people consistently. I know that CNB understands that time is of the essence when we’re considering a deal and I know we’ll get a prompt response. They’re the best service bank I’ve worked with in 20 years.”
Mark Miller and Sue Mosier, Kriegel’s controller, began working with Citizens about 8 years ago. At the time, remembers Mark, they were really looking to get involved with a local bank. “The bigger banks just weren’t giving us the customer service we wanted and we liked the idea of local decision making for our loans so approval would be quicker,” he says. That first visit, CNB presented the Courier service to Kriegel Holding as a convenient way to get deposits back and forth from the bank. “I could tell they understood the importance of customer service and timeliness,” comments Miller. Since then, the relationship has grown to include not only Courier services, but various loans and lines of credit, as well as electronic products such as Online for Business and merchant capture services. Sue Mosier explains, “We’ve seen real increased efficiencies by using both products. Merchant capture allows us to make deposits when it’s convenient for us without having to worry about cutoff times and Online for Business makes it easy for us to transfer funds between entities at the touch of a button. That makes a difference when you have a small staff handling a large amount of companies.” Kriegel employs about 300 total employees across all their holdings, but there are only 3 in the administrative offices that handle accounting and human resources management.
Since 2000, Kriegel Holding has grown from about a $15 million to a $75 million company. That accelerated growth has at times been a challenge to keep up with, but Miller’s confident that CNB will continue to find ways to meet their needs. “They go above and beyond to make sure our relationship is sound. They visit us frequently and sit down with us just to discuss our ideas – I don’t know any other bank that does that,” says Miller. Sue adds, “They call just to check on us and ask if everything’s okay. They’re more like a business partner than just a bank.”
Kriegel Holding Company, Inc. is a family-owned business begun by David Kriegel, Owner/Chairman. Their holdings include a wide variety of businesses ranging from plastics manufacturing to car dealerships. Their main offices are located in Van Wert, OH. For more information about Kriegel, call 419-238-1896.