People

Financial literacy remains focus for Wisconsin EVP

Jenny Jakel has been a part of AbbyBank for 41 years, a period in which the Abbotsford, Wis., bank has grown to $458 million from $13 million. Yet, Jakel’s preferred focus does not involve any discussion of profits. For that matter, it hardly deals with AbbyBank’s current customers. [Continue]

Finding deposits becomes Wisconsin banker’s specialty

Oregon Community Bank’s management could see economic growth taking hold in the Madison area. A suburb of about 10,000 people 10 miles south of the Wisconsin capital, Oregon may be an unlikely place to spot the early bounce back from the recent recession, but Oregon Community President and CEO Steve Peotter was confident the incoming loans in late 2013 and early 2014 were not outliers. [Continue]

KSOP expertise makes Minnesota banker indispensable

When a Safeway plant in southwest Minnesota closed nearly four decades ago, Connie Lonneman needed to find a new job. Just a few miles away, First State Bank Southwest, then based in Rushmore, Minn., had an opening. Lonneman began as a do-it-all, working as a teller, secretary and bookkeeper, adding in whatever else needed tending but might not have a specific title. [Continue]

Tim Kluender named president and chief executive officer of Community Bank Owatonna

Tim Kluender has been named president and chief executive officer of Community Bank Owatonna in Owatonna, Minn. Kluender has 24 years of banking experience, with the last 15 years in an executive management capacity. He has spent his entire career working in the community banking industry, beginning as an officer trainee in his hometown bank in Osceola, Iowa. Kluender most recently served as a senior vice president/chief credit officer for First National Bank in Fairfield, Iowa. [Continue]

Geoff Rand has joined First National Bank and Trust Company of Beloit

– Geoff Rand has joined First National Bank and Trust Company of Beloit, Wis., as vice president and retail market manager. Rand is responsible for FNBT’s branches in Rock County, including the four branches in Beloit as well as the Clinton and Janesville offices. Rand comes to FNBT with 25 years of banking experience, most recently at BMO Harris Bank in Janesville, Wis., where he was branch manager and, earlier, group market manager. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Rand has a bachelor of business administration degree with an emphasis in finance. [Continue]

Community bank tech leader Steen named IBA’s Leach Award winner

Bob Steen, chairman and CEO of Bridge Community Bank, Mechanicsville, Iowa, has been selected by the Iowa Bankers Association to receive the James A. Leach Leadership Award, the highest honor bestowed by the IBA. Steen received the award at the IBA convention on Sept. 19 in Des Moines. [Continue]