Writer: Jacqueline Nasseff Hilgert

Don’t let a bad decision derail your career

We likely have all encountered bad employment situations and (hopefully) emerged wiser on the other side. I once took a job at a financial education company that was conveniently located near my home. I realized — before the end of my first week — I’d made a terrible mistake. I have a friend who likes to say “nothing is wasted” and this is certainly true when we encounter unfair or abusive workplace cultures (provided the experiences don’t break us). [Continue]

Minnesota banker publishes cookbook

Noah Wilcox has a healthy appetite for independent community banking. The fourth generation banker and former ICBA chair can easily dish on how well small institutions support Main Street economies. And when it’s time to deliver an impassioned diatribe against reg burden or unfair competition or government overreach, Wilcox will embrace the “bully pulpit” without hesitation: He’s practically been ordained to preach the gospel of independence.  [Continue]

Gain customers by greening up some bank products

A church in my neighborhood is holding an electric vehicle expo this month. It’s a hands-on event with test drive opportunities and a chance to visit with EV owners. The expo sign caught my eye because I’ve been seeking new ways to reduce my own carbon footprint beyond using LED light bulbs, recycling and composting, and not using the air conditioner at home except for when the dewpoint creeps into the high 60s. As it turns out, I’m not alone. [Continue]

Resilience is that invaluable intangible

Did you happen to catch Charles Woodson’s Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech last month? The inductee class of 2021 included some big names such as Drew Pearson and Peyton Manning. But it was Woodson — the Heisman Trophy winning defensive back who began and ended his career with the Raiders but who also wore the green-and-gold for the Packers for seven years — who carried the ceremony with an impassioned speech focusing on family and overcoming adversity. [Continue]

Who’s the best person to coach your winning team?

To succeed in business, one must be competitive, nimble and always on the lookout for the Next Big Thing. It’s no different in banking, especially as the pandemic increased people’s use and acceptance of digital tools. What does that mean for today’s managers? More pointedly, perhaps I should ask: What does that mean for tomorrow’s managers? [Continue]

Rising Stars 2021: Relationships are foundational for CSO

When you drive onto a farm, you’d better have a feel for the position that farmer is in, said Juhl Erickson; you better understand their time is important. Erickson, chief sales officer for Spirit Lake, Iowa-based Bank Midwest, learned these things young. While growing up on a southwestern Minnesota farm, Erickson recalled the unsolicited sales calls made at the farm, and how his father, Frank, would call out the arrival of these peddlers the way one might announce an approaching storm: Here comes another one. [Continue]

Nothing beats a written plan when setting goals

For quite a few years, the conversations surrounding agriculture have focused on financial stress. Since 2014, we’ve had a rise in farm bankruptcies, we watched low commodity prices place downward pressure on land values, we expected farm incomes to be stretched thin, and we knew that years of struggle were manifesting in mental health crises across rural America. [Continue]

Sociability is Fidelity Bank & Trust’s differentiator

National recognition by Newsweek surprised the team at Fidelity Bank & Trust, Dubuque, which serves 27 communities in northeast Iowa, plus two in Wisconsin and one in Illinois. The $1.5 billion bank is “very social,” said Kathy McAllister, chief retail and marketing officer. Getting a boost from a national magazine injected some octane in the bank’s already high-performance marketing strategy. In terms of its competitive edge, McAllister points to the bank’s social engagement and its investment in being the “local” provider. [Continue]

Security First Bank keeps moving with mobile branch

In an era when mobile banking implies transactions conducted via smartphone, Security First Bank, Lincoln, continues to deliver critical banking services to underserved communities through a branch on wheels. The bank launched the Badlands Express in 1998 to serve customers on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The fully-outfitted mobile branch makes four runs per week. [Continue]