Minnesota banker pours dedication into industry, ABA involvement

Bryan Bruns

As president and CEO of Lake Central Bank in Annandale, Minn., Bryan Bruns knows how to figure his return on assets and return on equity. “But how do you measure your return on community?” he asked recently.

Bruns is chairman of the American Bankers Association’s Community Bankers Council, and he just finished serving as host of the ABA’s Conference for Community Bankers, conducted Feb. 20-22 in Palm Desert, Calif. Bruns was on stage throughout the conference conducted at the J.W. Marriott hotel, introducing speakers and panelists during the event which attracted more than 1,000 people. Due to the pandemic, the meeting was conducted virtually last year, and there were many comments this year about people being happy to be able to meet in person again.

“There’s no formula for measuring the value of community involvement,” Bruns commented during an interview. But he said he is committed to his community and that is part of the reason he is so involved with the industry and ABA.

“People ask me why I am so committed to the industry, and I think, how can you not be?”

Bruns, who grew up in Annandale, has a long association with the industry, going back to his service with the Minnesota Bankers Association. He was MBA Chair in 2012, after having served as chair of the association’s BankPAC board and chair of its Government Relations Council. He also has provided leadership to the MBA’s education committee and helped plan its Leaders of Tomorrow conference.

Bruns has been very active in the Annandale area, having served on the school board for many years, and working with the area Chamber of Commerce and Kiwanis Club.

He serves on the financial advisory council for U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), who sits on the House Financial Services Committee. Bruns also has served on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Community Bank Advisory Council.

Bruns graduated from the Carlson School of Business at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, in the first year of the school’s banking and finance program. He went to work for Norwest (now part of Wells Fargo) and then moved over to Marquette Bank (now part of U.S. Bank). He and his wife Tracy moved back to Annandale, and for three years Bryan commuted to his Twin Cities job.

When the chair of Annandale State Bank (the name of the bank before it was changed in 2017) offered him a job in October of 1994, Bruns took it. The new job gave Bruns an opportunity to work with his father, Dwayne, who was president and CEO. Bryan was soon named vice president and cashier. He was named president in 2005. Dwayne lost a battle to cancer and passed away in 2014, and Bryan added the title CEO.

The bank has grown to about $210 million in assets, with branches in Clearwater and Maple Lake. In addition to banking services, the bank offers insurance and investment services.

Bruns delivered on his master of ceremonies duties at the Community Bankers conference and invited everyone back to next year’s event, which will be in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 12-14. Looking to his wife from the stage, Bruns said: “I think I know where we will be on Valentine’s Day next year.”