Item 1. Business
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Citizens & Northern Corporation (“Corporation”) is a holding company whose principal activity is community banking. The Corporation’s principal office is located in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. The largest subsidiary is Citizens & Northern Bank (“C&N Bank” or the “Bank”). The Corporation’s other wholly-owned subsidiaries are Citizens & Northern Investment Corporation and Bucktail Life Insurance Company (“Bucktail”). Citizens & Northern Investment Corporation was formed in 1999 to engage in investment activities. Bucktail reinsures credit and mortgage life and accident and health insurance on behalf of C&N Bank.
The Corporation’s acquisition of Covenant Financial, Inc. (“Covenant”) was completed July 1, 2020. Covenant was the parent company of Covenant Bank, a commercial bank which operated a community bank office in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and another in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Pursuant to the transaction, Covenant merged with and into the Corporation and Covenant Bank merged with and into C&N Bank. Total purchase consideration was $63.3 million, including common stock with a fair value of $41.6 million and cash of $21.7 million. Holders of Covenant common stock prior to the consummation of the merger held approximately 12.9% of the Corporation’s common stock outstanding immediately following the merger.
Over the past few years, the Corporation has been employing a growth strategy. Presently, a majority of C&N Bank’s operations are conducted in its legacy markets in the northern tier/north central region of Pennsylvania and southern tier of New York. In 2020, with the acquisition of Covenant, the Bank expanded its presence in Southeastern Pennsylvania. The Covenant acquisition follows the acquisition of Monument Bancorp, Inc. (“Monument”) in 2019, as well as the opening of a lending office in York, Pennsylvania which is located in southcentral Pennsylvania. Mainly as a result of the acquisitions, the Corporation’s consolidated total assets at December 31, 2020 of $2.2 billion were up 73% from the corresponding total at December 31, 2018. Similarly, gross loans of $1.6 billion at December 31, 2020 were up 99% from December 31, 2018 and total deposits of $1.8 billion were up 76% from December 31, 2018.
C&N Bank is a Pennsylvania banking institution that was formed by the consolidation of Northern National Bank of Wellsboro and Citizens National Bank of Towanda in 1971. C&N Bank has held its current name since May 6, 1975, at which time C&N Bank changed its charter from a national bank to a Pennsylvania bank. The Bank has expanded its presence over the past several decades through a series of mergers as well as by opening new branch and lending offices and providing access to banking services via the internet and through ATMs. At December 31, 2020, the Bank had 29 branch offices, including 23 in the northern tier/north central region of Pennsylvania, 4 in Southeastern Pennsylvania (3 in Bucks County and 1 in Chester County) and 2 in the southern tier of New York State. In addition to its branch locations, the Bank had lending offices in York, Pennsylvania and Elmira, New York.
C&N Bank provides an extensive range of banking services, including deposit and loan products for personal and commercial customers. The Bank also maintains a trust department that provides a wide range of financial services, such as 401(k) plans, retirement planning, estate planning, estate settlements and asset management. C&N Financial Services Corporation (“C&NFSC”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bank, is a licensed insurance agency that provides insurance products to individuals and businesses and through its broker-dealer division, offers mutual funds, annuities, educational savings accounts and other investment products through registered agents. C&NFSC’s operations are not significant in relation to the total operations of the Corporation.
In 2017, C&N Bank established Northern Tier Holding LLC, to acquire, hold and dispose of real property acquired by the Bank. C&N Bank is the sole member of Northern Tier Holding LLC.
All phases of the Bank’s business are competitive. The Bank competes with online financial institutions, local commercial banks headquartered in our market areas and other commercial banks with branches in our market area. Many of the online financial institutions and some of the banks that have branches in our market areas are larger in overall size. With respect to lending activities and attracting deposits, the Bank also competes with savings banks, savings and loan associations, insurance companies, regulated small loan companies and credit unions. Also, the Bank competes with mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other investment vehicles for deposits. C&N Bank competes with insurance companies, investment counseling firms, mutual funds and other business firms and individuals for trust, investment management, brokerage and insurance services. The Bank is generally competitive with all financial institutions in our service areas with respect to interest rates paid on time and savings deposits, service charges on deposit accounts and interest rates charged on loans. The Bank serves a diverse customer base and is not economically dependent on any small group of customers or on any individual industry.
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At December 31, 2020, C&N Bank had total assets of $2,222,478,000, total deposits of $1,827,881,000 and net loans outstanding of $1,632,824,000.
Most activities of the Corporation and its subsidiaries are regulated by federal or state agencies. The primary regulatory relationships are described as follows:
● The Corporation is a bank holding company formed under the provisions of Section 3 of the Federal Reserve Act. The Corporation is under the direct supervision of the Federal Reserve and must comply with the reporting requirements of the Federal Bank Holding Company Act.
● C&N Bank is a state-chartered, nonmember bank, supervised by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities.
● C&NFSC is a Pennsylvania corporation. The Pennsylvania Department of Insurance regulates C&NFSC’s insurance activities. Brokerage products are offered through third party networking agreements.
● Bucktail is incorporated in the state of Arizona and supervised by the Arizona Department of Insurance.
A copy of the Corporation’s annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current events reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to these reports, will be furnished without charge upon written request to the Corporation’s Treasurer at P.O. Box 58, Wellsboro, PA 16901. Copies of these reports will be furnished as soon as reasonably possible after they are filed electronically with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The information is also available through the Corporation’s web site at www.cnbankpa.com
Human Capital
The Corporation’s Board of Directors and executive leadership team have established the following mission, vision and values:
Mission : Creating value through lifelong relationships with our customers, teammates, shareholders and communities.
Vision : Every customer says “C&N is the ONLY bank I need.”
Values : Teamwork, Respect, Responsibility and Accountability, Excellence, Integrity, Client Focus, Have Fun.
We recognize that our ability to create value on a consistent basis is highly dependent upon the effectiveness of our team.
The Corporation‘s key human capital management objectives are to attract and retain diverse raw and seasoned talent that fits our values and culture. Our talent strategy focuses on acquiring new employees through branding and outreach programs, developing employees though a robust onboarding program, ongoing training, and performance management, and retaining employees through recognition, engagement, and an attractive total rewards package.
Diversity and Inclusion
At C&N Bank, we are committed to creating value through relationships. At the heart of this mission is a promise of excellence in service to all people, as demonstrated by our commitment to equity of opportunity, inclusion and our fostering of a spirit of belonging. We live our values of respect, integrity and excellence by creating access and providing support to help our diverse constituents of customers, teammates, shareholders and communities in achieving their financial goals. We embrace inclusion of all of our stakeholders as an important component of our vision to be the ONLY bank our customers need.
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Compensation and Benefits
The Corporation offers competitive compensation to attract and retain talent. Our generous total rewards package includes market-competitive salary, bonuses or sales commissions, short-term and long-term equity incentives, healthcare and retirement benefits, and paid time off. Employees have regular performance reviews and salary raises commensurate with performance. Employees have access to a holistic suite of items within our employee assistance program that caters to physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing for the employee and their family. Additionally, we have conducted discretionary bonus payouts – the most recent grant program took place in 2020 and was in recognition of our employees’ special efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Training and Development
The Corporation provides a robust training and development program that supports our culture, prepares employees for their immediate role, develops them for long term success at the bank and supports personal enrichment. We offer functional training, culture building exercises, personal development, C&N Bank history, C&N Bank integration and ongoing technical training throughout each year. Employees also have access to additional educational and development opportunities including tuition reimbursement and certification programs.
Communication and Engagement
At C&N, we believe in the importance of employee communication and engagement. We utilize several methods to foster engagement, including activities such as Employee Recognition programs, Service Anniversary Awards, Bank wide monthly calls, semi-annual Bank wide events, annual employee surveys, focus groups, daily huddles, and the Giving Back, Giving Together community service program. We believe keeping our team well informed, connected, and appreciated adds to the success of our organization.