Features

Minnesota banker aces accelerated succession

Anita Drentlaw always knew being involved with the family bank was a career possibility – she’s been attending industry meetings since her pre-kindergarten days – but her path to the corner office at New Market Bank wasn’t supposed to happen quite as quickly as it did. [Continue]

Kansas lender tackles the complex deal

Caleb Sekavec brings an outlook steeped in a competitive and propitious spirit to his role as senior vice president and commercial/ag loan officer at First National Bank, Garden City, Kan. [Continue]

Third-generation banker embraces today’s challenges

Heidi Brown has an impressive pedigree of community banking in the state of Iowa, and her own contributions to the Sheldon, Iowa-based Citizens State Bank and the wider banking industry in Iowa position her to take a place in that illustrious line-up. [Continue]

High-achieving Minnesotan ‘plunges’ with pride

SVP Mike Scholl brings his energy and skillset to bear for Northeast Bank, Minneapolis, most recently by finessing a branch relocation, maintaining ties with the old community while building relationships in the new neighborhood. [Continue]

Banker grows thick skin launching pig skin

Kristin Marcuccilli has been thriving in a man’s world since she was the placekicker for her high school football team. She then went to work in operations for University of Notre Dame football, and now she’s on the executive board for the third-generation, family-owned STAR Financial Bank in Fort Wayne, Ind. [Continue]

Managing reputation when unhappy customers go public

Community banks are not dragged through the mud by angry online reviewers as frequently as your local restaurant or service company. Yet, a cursory search of Yelp reveals negative reviews of hometown banks are pretty easy to come by. [Continue]

InvestUP works to reframe Michigan’s UP narrative

Since 2000 the population of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has dropped 4 percent, and unemployment is 5.5 percent, more than a percentage point higher than the national average. One bank-backed economic development initiative is working to turn that around. [Continue]