MetaBank names new head of community banking

Kathy Thorson
Kathy Thorson

Kathy Thorson was named community banking president of Sioux Falls-based MetaBank. She is currently market president of its Sioux Falls-based Sioux Empire market.

MetaBank’s other three markets, Brookings, S.D., central Iowa and northwest Iowa, will report to her. In addition, she will be responsible for the business strategy for all four markets. She will also continue as the president of the Sioux Empire market in addition to her new responsibilities.

Thorson has been with MetaBank for 17 years and was the first female market president in Sioux Falls. Prior to that, she was with Marquette Bank for 11 years, most recently as a vice president of business banking.

“Kathy has been a tremendous contributor to the success of MetaBank since she started with us in 2001,” said J. Tyler Haahr, chairman and CEO of the $4.3 billion MetaBank “She has consistently been a top performer in the company and helped us become one of the most profitable banks in the state with growth consistently above 20 percent per year.”

She serves on multiple boards, including as immediate past board president of the Sioux Council Boy Scouts board of directors, board vice chair for the Volunteers of America Foundation, and board member of the Chamber of Commerce Community Appeals and the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Augustana University, Sioux Falls, and an MBA from the University of South Dakota, Vermillion.