ChoiceOne Bank Blog

ChoiceOne Bank was honored to receive TrueNorth Community Partner Award at the Community Efforts Celebration in May. TrueNorth hosted the celebration at Camp Newaygo in Newaygo.

ChoiceOne Bank received the 2019 Financial Literacy award from the Michigan Bankers Association (MBA) at their Best Conference recently held in Traverse City. ChoiceOne Bank Vice President, Commercial Lender and Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Officer Patricia Brown accepted the award for the effort she and her team put forth in developing and implementing the KickStart to Career programs in Muskegon and Newago Counties.

From left to right: Bonnie Koehn, VP - Client Development, ChoiceOne Bank; Carrie Olson, VP - Client Development, ChoiceOne Bank; Cheryl Gregware, Customer Service Center Assistant Manager, ChoiceOne Bank; Patricia Brown, VP – Commercial Loan Officer, ChoiceOne Bank; Konrad Raclawski, Branch Manager Officer, ChoiceOne Bank; Adom Greenland, SVP – Chief Operating Officer, ChoiceOne Bank; Mary Rangel, SAMRC Chairperson; Jamie Jasso, SAMRC Secretary; Linda Aguilar, SAMRC Member.

ChoiceOne Bank partnered with the Community Foundation for Muskegon County to help launch the KickStart to Career program. KickStart to Career is a program designed to assist with post-secondary education expenses. The program is managed by the Community Foundation for Muskegon County. Each kindergarten student in Muskegon County has the opportunity to be the beneficiary of an account opened with a $50 deposit from the Community Foundation for Muskegon County.
“ChoiceOne is excited to work with the Community Foundation for Muskegon County as one of their partners to offer children’s savings accounts to every kindergartner in Muskegon County as part of their KickStart to Career program,” said ChoiceOne Bank President and CEO Kelly Potes. “ChoiceOne was selected because of our ability to offer financial literacy education and our commitment to work personally with the students.”

“We are pleased to welcome Amber to the business development team in our new full-service Grand Rapids office,” said ChoiceOne Bank President and CEO Kelly Potes. “Amber is an experienced banker with a successful career in business development including both personal and commercial lending. Her broad financial knowledge along with her passion to serve, will prove valuable as we expand our community bank franchise throughout Michigan.”  

ChoiceOne Bank is pleased to announce the appointment of Digital Channels and Marketing Officer Tim Shangle to the American Bankers Association (ABA) Emerging Leaders Council. The ABA is the voice of the nation’s $17.5 trillion banking industry, which is composed of small, regional and large banks that together employ more than 2 million people, safeguard $13.5 trillion in deposits and extend nearly $10 trillion in loans.

ChoiceOne Bank continues to focus on corporate social responsibility as they grow in West Michigan. ChoiceOne Bank and Muskegon Oceana Community Action Partnership (MOCAP) worked together to help the senior citizens in Muskegon County.

Many ChoiceOne Bank employees spent Martin Luther King Day Jr. Day volunteering for Home Repair Services (HRS) of Kent County.

ChoiceOne Bank’s Culture Committee recently launched a “step challenge.” It took place among its 14 branch offices. The branch with the most steps at the end of the challenge won. The winning branch donated a $500 check to an organization of their choice.