In the waning days of 2021, Charlie Bauman was asked to consider the following proposition: Leave his position at a profitable and respected banking organization to join what organizers hoped would soon be the first de novo bank to open in the region in 14 years.
Bauman had worked in banking since before earning his undergraduate degree, had an MBA, and had grown up in a family of entrepreneurs, so he knew a thing or two about assessing risk. But the Wisconsin native, who’d joined Venture Bank as a commercial lender after moving to the Twin Cities in 2010, had worked his way into the role of vice president of credit at what had, through a 2018 acquisition, become Choice Financial. And, he was a married father of three and sole provider for his family.
“You don’t know if the bank is going to be successful. What if it doesn’t work?” wondered Bauman, as he assessed his decision to join EntreBank — or not — three months before it opened in March 2022. “It was a leap of faith.”
The 37-year-old Bauman, SVP senior credit officer at Bloomington, Minn.-based EntreBank, is being recognized by BankBeat magazine as a 2023 “Rising Star in Banking.”
As is fitting in community banking, Bauman’s assessment of risk was informed by the personal. He’d encountered, and been impressed by, founding chair Dan Boeckermann in meetings over the years. He knew EntreBank president Todd Hovland through mutual connections. He met the other EntreBank co-founders — Tim Viere, Melissa Johnston and Eric Knutson — and “the more I spoke with them, the more I could tell that it wasn’t a matter of ‘if we will be successful,’ but ‘when we would be successful,’” he said. “They are all extremely driven and professional … all experts in their field.”
Bauman’s decision was also informed by his own possibilities. “I wanted to be part of building something from the ground up, putting something in place,” Bauman said about his reasoning to join a bank while it was still in organization. “As far as the credit side, building out a team, that appealed to me.”
“One of his leadership qualities that I appreciate the most is the respect and bond that he builds with his team,” said Hovland, who is EntreBank’s president. “They all appreciate and respect his leadership style because of his willingness to dig in, understand the challenge at hand and help to come up with a solution.”
Bauman leads the underwriting and loan documentation, overseeing development of all the required underwriting templates, risk rating rubrics and loan documentation systems. Having to build from the ground up has required a steep learning curve with the core system from CSI and its loan origination software from Hawthorn River. It was just him and two senior-level credit officers putting systems and procedures in place, he explained. “Being able to put in some checks and balances through that process to help keep a strong underwriting focus has helped us to be successful,” he said.
“When I first started, I wasn’t aware of the regulatory guidance, the amount of audits, both internal and external, that you have to go through,” Bauman said. Furnishing all of that documentation to regulators has been a challenge, he said. “When you’re at a bank that’s been established for 25 years, a lot of that work has already been done and there are written procedures for every task at the bank. We’re doing it on the fly but also having to write those procedures at the same time. Along with bringing on new customers and trying to build our customer base.”
It means a lot of hours, and close attention paid to details. “We started with a staff of 15 people, and you’re wearing multiple hats, doing different roles,” Bauman explained. “You jump in, keep a can-do attitude, and you work as a group to achieve the challenge in front of you.”
“He does not ask others to do a job that he doesn’t understand himself,” Hovland explained. “His leadership and ability to put together a great credit team has helped us grow the bank and exceed our expectations.”
”Charlie’s leadership embodies his breadth of experience in the industry and his understanding of the qualities necessary to achieve success,” said Tony Moch, the attorney who assisted EntreBank founders through the de novo process. “Charlie is an exceptional leader and passionate team builder who has been instrumental in assembling EntreBank’s credit department.”
Bauman’s focus is rooted in a work ethic learned through his family. “One of the big parts of that is taking care of the people around you, building a good team,” said Bauman, who had an opportunity to join the family manufacturing business his grandfather had started. But his knowledge of business didn’t extend to the engineering side; this gap left Bauman uncertain about this career shift. “My dad told me, ‘If you’re not passionate about the business, you’re not always going to be happy, so continue doing what you like. Stay in banking.’
“So when this opportunity came about, and there was an option for me to help guide the whole credit and loan department, bringing in people who I know and trust, it was very exciting,” Bauman said.
Second only to his passion for risk-based decision-making is his passion for helping small business owners, Bauman said. “Whether they are a mature business or a startup, I like helping guide them through some of the decisions they have to make. It’s rewarding seeing some of the businesses around your community, knowing you might have had an impact on their success.”