A trio of executive positions have been filled at The Citizens State Bank after approval by its board of directors.

Ross Heide, who has been an ag lender in the Hesston market for over five years, will assume the role of branch manager at the Hesston bank, after the departure of Mark Landes, who is returning to Hesston College as its president.

“I joined the bank in 2019 and have enjoyed being a lender in Hesston for the past 5-½ years where each day brings a new challenge and opportunity to think outside the box, Heide said. “Prior to working for the bank, I worked for Kauffman Seeds, an ag seed dealer based out of Yoder for over two years. Kauffman Seeds sells crop seeds, forages, cover crops, and seed treatments. During my time there, I assisted with the planting of test plots across the state of Kansas, delivered seed to customers in Kansas and Oklahoma, worked in the warehouse, rouged certified wheat fields, and performed various other tasks.”

Heide will be joined as a new branch manager by Neal Kaiser, who has been named to the post at their Goessel bank. An ag lender for three years in Goessel, Kaiser previously worked in agronomy and ag retail at Ag Service, Inc.

“It’s a great honor to be picked for this role,” Kaiser said. “I look forward to being able to help our current customers in bigger ways and keep the bank an active part of the community.”

Overseeing both branch manager positions will be Kirby Smith, a 17-year veteran at the bank, who has spent the last 13 years as Goessel’s market president. As regional market president, Smith will assist both the Goessel and Hesston markets.

“I am very excited about this role,” Smith said. “One of the things that I feel like has helped me the most in my career in banking was the mentorship that I received from the people that I worked with when I started at The Citizens State Bank. Ken Goering, Fred Schrag, Dwight Wedel and Richard Drake were all extremely good role models and had a wealth of information about ag banking in our area. I am excited to be able to try to fill that role with our ag lenders in Goessel and now Hesston. The chance to work day to day with this group and pass on some of the wisdom I was lucky enough to have received will be very rewarding.”

Bank President Randy Tegethoff announced the position changes companywide, last week.

“We are fortunate to have several strong candidates to fill internal positions within the bank,” Tegethoff said. “Ross, Neal and Kirby have all shown their value to our company and we wanted to provide them each with a chance to grow in their careers through the role changes. They will each fill important roles and make us a stronger bank.”