Navigation

Bank Closures Position Nicolet for Strength, CEO Says

Nicolet National Bank has closed seven locations in northeast Wisconsin, three in Door County in Brussels, Ellison Bay and Fish Creek. The other four are in Appleton, Kewaunee, Oshkosh and Suamico. 

The permanent closures have affected 56 employees, including 12 executive-branch employees, according to Nicolete Chairman and CEO Bob Atwell.

Nicolet was not a victim of COVID-19, he said, but the pandemic did provide opportunities for the company to learn how to position itself for the long-term welfare of its customers, employees and shareholders.

“If you’re going to be a strong, powerful, forward-thinking organization, you’ve got to make timely decisions that sometimes you wish you didn’t face,” he said. “That was one of those decisions.”

The timeliness of this decision comes at a time of great economic uncertainty.  

“The medical part of it is still highly uncertain, but the economic part of it is – I’m not sure people have really wrapped their heads around what it means when the unemployment rate in Wisconsin goes to 20, 25 percent,” Atwell said. “Organizations are coming at this at different speeds, but I am seeing it across the spectrum.”

Five Nicolet branches remain in Door County, in Egg Harbor, Sister Bay, Washington Island and two in Sturgeon Bay. Still, Atwell said, some have reacted emotionally to the permanent closures, particularly over the Brussels branch.

“With two physical locations on either side of Fish Creek [in Egg Harbor and Sister Bay], it was really saying, what do we have to do to be efficient but still maintain a high level of service?” Atwell said. “That applied to Ellison Bay, too. Brussels was a little more difficult. Brussels is 10 miles or so from Sturgeon Bay.”

The physical convenience that the branch locations offer is important and real to people, Atwell said, but it’s not the essence of the bank’s value.

“If that’s all they really care about, I don’t know what kind of relationship we had,” he said.

Younger generations have shifted toward online banking versus visting a bank in person.

“We have locations that are still very, very active,” Atwell said, “but in some locations, it kind of dwindles as the population ages and shrinks.”

COVID-19 has caused some customers to try online banking when they never would have otherwise.

“We maintained 31 locations open through our drive-throughs throughout the whole crisis,” Atwell said. “I think we saw maybe a 10 percent drop in our traffic” as customers moved online.

Customers can make appointments to access their safe-deposit boxes at the closed locations. Atwell said the company has not reached a point of decision-making about the physical buildings, some of which are leased, and some are owned.

Atwell said he understands that people are emotional about the closures, but he stands by his employees and the bank’s record of service. That includes having processed $340 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans during the pandemic and an additional $1,250,000 in microgrants to small-business owners, about $500,000 of which went to Door County businesses.  To hear the Peninsula Pulse podcast with Bob Atwell on Friday, visit doorcountypulse.com/podcasts.