There are roughly 3,300 Wells Fargo employees working inside retail branches across Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas and Montana — what the bank now considers its Midwestern region — and Laurie Nordquist assures us that none of them have sales goals. [Continue]
Community bank customers expect to be treated as individuals, not statistics. At the same time, marketing to customers “subjectively through personal stories instead of numbers clearly presents our dedication to our community,” explained Kristi Poling, marketing and creative services manager at Minnesota Lakes Bank, Delano, and its sister institution, Grand Rapids State Bank in Grand Rapids, Minn. [Continue]
Shield Compliance, Seattle, has developed a compliance management system for banking legal marijuana-related businesses. Called Shield Data Hub, the technology sets out to assure compliance with Financial Crimes Enforcement Network guidelines for cannabis banking. Tony Repanich joined Shield Compliance as its COO in 2018. He previously served as executive vice president of the $1.7 billion People’s Bank, Bellingham, Wash. [Continue]
Martin County, Minn., used to be all dairy 50 years ago. Now, with more than 150 hog farms, the county bills itself as Bacon Capital USA. Today, the county has three dairy farms, including that of Lori and Bob Calkins. In addition to dairy farming, Lori Calkins is a large-animal veterinarian who speaks of changes in dairy farming that have helped the industry become so much more efficient. [Continue]
I speak on farm finance to farmer audiences all over the country. Thanks to the poor farm economy there have been great similarities in the audience member outlook no matter where in the country I have been. Simply stated, your customers are worried. [Continue]
Cultivation of hemp and production of hemp-based products, including CBD, were a notable inclusion in the 2018 Farm Bill. The promise of industrial hemp is manifested in hemp-based CBD products, which include oils, creams, supplements and food items. [Continue]
Though podcasts on everything from sports to true crime are popular, and some of the larger banks do have them, they’re not yet standard among community banks. Here are 10 to try. [Continue]
Banks and technology companies can form great partnerships, but policymakers should watch how these two industries interact, and intervene if equal access to credit or financial stability is threatened. The country has long benefited from laws that separate commerce from banking; this separation may be more important than ever as the world grows more technologically capable. [Continue]
In southeastern Wisconsin, residents of Racine and Kenosha can tune in to hear about a fundraiser to build a concession stand at a local school’s baseball fields. They can catch an interview with a leader from the Small Business Development Center. Or they can learn about changes at the area humane society. [Continue]
The future is fairly bright despite the current financial indicators because the working capital crunch that exists in agriculture now is temporary. The prospects for long-term growth in demand for products is actually quite positive. [Continue]