Bank First National, Manitowoc, Wis., has received regulatory approval to merge the $176 million First National Bank of Waupaca, Wis., into its organization.
Mike Molepske, president and CEO of the $1.3 billion Bank First National, said the approval’s timing couldn’t be better. “The transition teams have been working diligently,” Molepske said. [Continue]
A strategic plan developed last October is guiding the Independent Community Bankers of Minnesota to build on three “strategic anchors,” explained Rick Gobell in a speech that concluded his service as 2016-17 ICBM chairman. Gobell delivered his comments at the award luncheon that closed the ICBM’s convention, conducted Aug. 10-12 in Bloomington, Minn. [Continue]
Robert Steen, CEO of Bridge Community Bank in Mechanicsville, Iowa, was honored with the Robert D. Dixon Founders Award presented at the 46th annual convention of the Community Bankers of Iowa on July 19 in Okoboji. The award is the highest honor bestowed by CBI. [Continue]
Cameron Miles, president of Keystone Savings Bank, Keystone, Iowa, became president of the Community Bankers of Iowa at the group’s 46th management conference and annual convention at Okoboji, July 19-21. [Continue]
While the condition of Iowa banks is generally strong, regulators worry about concentrations in commercial real estate and agricultural loans, in addition to liquidity and cybersecurity issues, representatives from the State of Iowa, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the FDIC told bankers gathered in Okoboji on July 20 at the annual meeting of the Community Bankers of Iowa. [Continue]
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari addressed bankers gathered Aug. 10-12 at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Bloomington for the 55th annual convention of the Independent Community Bankers of Minnesota. Both relayed similar messages about a consensus on the necessity for reg relief but skepticism about the likelihood of it coming any time soon.
“There is a consensus in Washington,” said Pawlenty, CEO of the Financial Services Roundtable. “They can’t always act on it, but at least they have a sentiment that community bankers, first of all, are very valuable, and second of all, need relief in terms of regulation,” he said. “The details of that and what form that takes is still a work in progress, but there is certainly political across-the-aisle consensus around it. [Continue]
Scott Wakefield, president of First Minnesota Bank, Mayer, Minn., became chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of Minnesota at the group’s 55th annual convention Aug. 9-12 at the JW Marriott Hotel next to the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. [Continue]
Spirit Lake, Iowa-based Bank Midwest donated $10,000 to the Lakes Regional Healthcare Foundation to help bring vital state-of-the-art screening equipment to residents of the Iowa Great Lakes area. [Continue]
Mary Stoltman, private banking officer at Winona National Bank, Winona, Minn., has won its second quarter Community PRIDE Award. [Continue]
Merchants Bank, Winona, Minn., will be donating five cents each time a Merchants Bank credit card or debit card was used between Aug. 1 and Aug. 8, up to a total of $10,000, to area food shelves during “Swipe Out Hunger,” the bank’s fifth annual Facebook Giveaway. [Continue]