Doug Bass has been named president and chief operating officer of Great Western Bank, Sioux Falls, effective Oct. 1.
He takes on the role from Chairman and CEO Ken Karels, who had been president and CEO since 2010 and chairman since last year. Great Western decided to split the roles of president and CEO and conducted a nationwide search before selecting Bass for the role.
Bass, 57, has over 36 years of banking experience and has worked in various capacities with Great Western Bank since 2009. He has served as executive vice president and regional president of Great Western’s operations in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, as well as its wealth management and mortgage banking business lines since 2010.
Before joining Great Western Bank, Bass was president of First American Bank Group. He also served in various capacities over 15 years with Firstar Corporation, now known as US Bank, including as president and CEO of Firstar’s Sioux City and Council Bluffs operations in western Iowa and as manager of correspondent banking for its eastern Iowa operations, which also included responsibility for commercial banking and agribusiness lending.
“Doug is a strong leader who understands the importance we have placed on our culture and values,” Karels said. “He is highly qualified for these new responsibilities and will continue our tradition of investing in our communities and our mission to Make Life Great for our employees, customers and shareholders.”
Under Karels’ leadership, the Company has grown 28 percent in asset size to $12 billion as of June 30 from the time of its IPO in October 2014. Karels joined the bank in 2002 after working for 26 years at Marquette Bank, Milbank, S.D., most recently as president and CEO.