On March 21, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced that small businesses adversely impacted by the coronavirus in Minnesota and Wisconsin could immediately apply for low-interest Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). Under the EIDL program, direct loans of up to $2 million per business are immediately available, and no national or state caps on the … Read more
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis has long been invested in collecting banking data. It started in 1961, when the director of research distributed three charts. The positive feedback the Fed received spurred an initiative to collect and share research outside of the Federal Reserve system. BankBeat recently became part of the tradition. [Continue]
For his ongoing commitment to growing his bank in an era of increasing consolidation, along with his career-long commitment to industry activism, Hopkins has been selected BankBeat magazine’s 2020 Banker of the Year. [Continue]
The National Retail Federation has predicted a strong holiday shopping season. In its October survey, consumers said they expected to spend an average of $1,047, up 4 percent from what they had planned to spend last year. It’s the 10th consecutive year of increased consumer holiday spending. [Continue]
It’s pretty hard to out-hustle Mitch Cook. The Minnesota-based senior regional president for Iowa City-based MidWestOne bank once worked 53 days in a row without a day off. At the time, the native Michigander was working for his parents, who owned a multi-million dollar wholesale distributor of hardware and tools. [Continue]
There are banks engaged in newsworthy initiatives all across this country. Maine’s Bangor Savings Bank caught my eye recently, not only because it provides tuition reimbursement, but because it has partnered with Husson University to allow its employees to earn undergraduate credit for work done at the bank. [Continue]
Lori Raabe has worn many hats in her three-plus decade banking career: Teller, personal banker, mortgage lender, business development officer, SBA lender, branch manager, taxidermist. Okay, that last role is figurative. [Continue]
Peg Scott doesn’t play the blame game but neither does she settle. It was an inclination toward positive action which sparked Scott to pursue a college degree as a non-traditional student after being passed over for a promotion, spurred her to assemble a group of investors to buy the bank where she worked, and inspired her to be a leader with the Iowa Bankers Association. [Continue]
Workers are looking for advancement opportunities, a way to see that their efforts are making a difference in peoples’ lives, and a culture that fosters collegiality, growth and innovation. [Continue]
A customer-centric culture and having capital to serve a market are tried-and-true ways to achieve steady organic growth. To drive exponential growth like 40-year-old President and CEO David Saber is doing requires a strategic X-factor. And capital. Park Financial Group has both in Andy Redleaf, its primary shareholder. [Continue]