Busey Bank, Champaign, Ill., has completed its second merger of the year, most recently with South Side Trust & Savings Bank, Peoria, Ill., and one this summer with First Community Financial Bank, Joliet, Ill. [Continue]
Equity Bank, Andover, Kan., has received approval to complete its previously announced mergers with Eastman National Bank of Newkirk, Okla., and Patriot Bank of Tulsa, Okla. [Continue]
Kraig Lounsberry will take over as president of the Community Bankers Association of Illinois on Jan. 1. Only one person has ever held the position, Bob Wingert for the past 43 years. Lounsberry spoke with NorthWestern Financial Review writer Douglas Farmer. [Continue]
Pine Country Bank of Little Falls, Minn., is celebrating its 90-year anniversary by giving $100 to a lucky customer every week until the end of the year. Formerly known as Royalton State Bank, it has been a locally owned and operated financial institution since 1927. Every year through its Hometown Pledge program, Pine Country Bank gives 5 percent of profits back to community organizations, and employees are allowed to volunteer during work hours to local nonprofits. [Continue]
Associated Bank, Green Bay, Wis., is offering Packers fans an exclusive opportunity to keep celebrating throughout the football season, “Get Closer to the Packers,” and meet players Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb. [Continue]
The Chicago Blackhawks announced the team’s new, privately funded, $65 million facility will be known as the MB Ice Arena – Chicago Blackhawks Community Rink, reflecting sponsorship by MB Financial Bank. In addition to serving as the practice home for the Blackhawks and visiting National Hockey League teams, approximately 94 percent of the 125,000-square-foot facility’s use will be for the community, youth and adult hockey leagues. [Continue]
The jump from pre-calculus to community bank president and CEO is not a typical one. In Shane Pilarski’s case, the jump from high school math teacher to loan clerk at Alliance Bank, Francesville, Ind., was not meant to be permanent. [Continue]
In a big shift from a few years ago, deposits are again coveted by most banks. For a while, many banks were so flush with cash they actually turned away customers who had large sums of money to deposit. But today loan demand is up and other investments are competing for those deposit dollars. Note the Dow Jones Industrial Average recently topped 23,000. [Continue]
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]
Opportunity Bank of Montana, Helena, will acquire Ruby Valley Bank, Twin Bridges, Mont. According to FDIC records the acquisition of the $90 million Ruby Valley will make Opportunity the fifth-largest Montana-based bank with $800 million in assets. Ruby Valley has two branches — Twin Bridges and Sheridan — and the combined company will have 16 branches. [Continue]