Intercity + One Community: A ‘like-minded’ union

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

September 1, 2025

NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN – For roughly a decade, One Community Bank Regional President Chris Pfender and Intercity State Bank President and CEO Steve Peotter said the two financial institutions have been not only working in tandem, but toward a larger collaboration as well.

At the beginning of last month, however, Intercity and One Community took that collaboration one step further – officially merging under a new, singular title: Intercity State Bank-Branch of One Community Bank.

Pfender said the merger represents the completion of a longer journey.

“It’s something that we’ve really been working towards for a number of years,” he said.

Pfender – who was hired at Intercity during Peotter’s tenure on its board of directors – said the two community banks have long shared “like-minded” goals.

“Our banks have worked really well [together] over the years – supporting each other, sharing answers to questions [and] best practices – and have gotten to know each other really well throughout this process,” he said.

Through previous partnerships “on several significant projects in the Greater Wausau area,” Peotter said it became evident over the years that the two banks were more impactful when working together.

“The two organizations have very similar shareholder groups,” he said. “So, while [we] always operated independently, there was clearly a strong degree of familiarity.”

Founded in 1952 and 1972, respectively, Pfender said Intercity and One Community’s collaborative relationship didn’t start with himself and Peotter, but that it was nourished under their leadership.

“Steve’s been on the board [of directors] for Intercity State Bank for more than 10 years, [but the] shared collaboration between the two organizations prior to that predates both of us,” he said.

First announcing their long-anticipated merger in January, Pfender said it took some time for Intercity and One Community to officially combine operations.

“We worked really hard over the past few months to pull together all the details with the regulatory approvals [and], of course, a lot of colleague engagement with as much forethought as possible to make the merger of the two quite seamless,” he said.

The two banks’ staff, Peotter said, engaged in intentional team building prior to the merger’s regulatory approval.

“We’d have members of both organizations attend a Wisconsin Bankers Association education or training event to allow them to physically share space at a professional development event and give them the opportunity to connect, as they saw fit, while still growing their career,” he said.

Their strategy of affording their teams the opportunity to bond prior to their working together, Peotter said, has proven very successful in the early stages of the merger.

“We have seen other situations very different from this where two banks will combine, but those organizations have no familiarity with each other…,” he said. “[So], we were very intentional [because] that was not something we wanted to occur here.”

That’s why, Peotter said, Intercity and One Community took their time to ensure the organizations were not disrupted to a point of disrepair, but instead would thrive under their new circumstances.

“We were very fortunate [to have] a longer runway to complete the combination the way we wanted to, and then had the ability to really decide when the time was right to fully activate the plan,” he said.

‘Enhanced level of community investment’

Pfender said the longtime, almost symbiotic relationship between Intercity and One Community allowed the organizations’ leadership to recognize the operational benefits of an official merger.

Though they’ve “always been very involved in the community,” he said combining Intercity and One Community’s assets provides them exponentially more opportunities to serve the North Central region’s rural communities.

“One of the things we’re most excited about is that [merging] into one organization is really going to allow us to provide an enhanced level of community investment,” he said.

As rural community banks, Peotter said Intercity and One Community recognize their roles expand beyond only providing baseline, traditional financial services.

“We believe in supporting Wisconsin,” he said. “We believe people need to be able to live and work in small rural areas… We want people to be able to live where they want and have a growing professional career.”

As part of the merger, Pfender said no layoffs are expected as all Intercity and One Community offices will remain open – giving their workforce additional infrastructure to facilitate growing their career locally.

“We’re really excited – in terms of benefits of the merger – that this is going to create wonderful opportunities for our colleagues,” he said. “All of our locations are staying open, and there are no job cuts. Being a part of a larger organization gives our colleagues the opportunity to continue to pursue their career development without having to leave their home community.”

The community-oriented intent behind their previously independent work and now the merger, Peotter said, sets Intercity and One Community apart from their larger competitors.

“One thing we talk about is having a small-bank personality with big-bank capabilities,” he said. “Our commitment to keeping all locations open to keep our same colleagues there to serve clients is just a powerful aspect of that.”

With “great things ahead” following its official regulatory approval, Pfender and Peotter said they are both “excited” about their unified operation as Intercity State Bank-Branch of One Community Bank.

“There’s really been no current client impact, so we’re really optimistic, [because] we know there are businesses and individuals that are growing – that are looking for a community bank – and it’s exciting to be a part of that,” Pfender said.

For more on Intercity State Bank-Branch of One Community Bank, its locations and its services, visit intercitystatebank.com.