While the pandemic significantly impacted all industries, many have clawed their way back even as inflation, labor shortages and supply chain constraints continue. Child care has been a slightly different story, with a crucial industry failing to rebound since 2020 put it in freefall. [Continue]
Throughout April, banks across the Midwest engage in activities to promote financial literacy. These activities range from tried-and-true classroom instruction to engagement on social media. Bank Five Nine, based in Oconomowoc, Wis., uses an omnichannel approach to foster financial education for both young and old. [Continue]
In the early 1980s, billionaire Bill Daniels read about a group of Denver students who were unable to obtain a bank loan and felt society was doing its youth a disservice by essentially excluding them from the banking system. Daniels was a cable television pioneer who’d earned his fortune in tech ventures and sports. In 1987, Daniels turned his attention to banking by forming Young Americans Bank, the world’s only fully-insured and regulated bank for people aged 21 and under. [Continue]
Last fall, 73 percent of employers reported difficulty finding employees, and nearly the same number of employers expect that difficulty to continue. In order to compete for talent, community bankers have had to get creative and strategic by partnering with nonprofits, state bankers associations and institutions of higher learning. [Continue]
Banking the unbanked has long been an industry phraseology — and a goal of the FDIC. But despite attempts by different organizations, a nationwide effort to bring the unbanked into the financial fold has proven unsuccessful. The “Bank On” national program offers a solution for both sides of the equation. [Continue]
As high school students prepare for college, they find themselves in need of transitional financial products as they become independent adults. [Continue]
Worldwide, the novel coronavirus pandemic has upset global markets, economies and daily patterns of life like nothing we’ve ever seen in our lifetimes. And bankers and economists alike have no desire to proffer any forecasts at what the future of agriculture — even a few months from now — holds. [Continue]
Low prices, labor and weather top the list of challenges facing the ag industry in southern Minnesota, according to a poll of attendees at South Central College’s annual ag forum. Regarding the overall economy, about 20 percent said the biggest challenge was government while another 20 percent said politics. [Continue]
Young Americans generally lack the skills they need to manage their financial futures. In order to improve the financial literacy of young people, and help them avoid future financial struggles, some community bankers in Nebraska have dedicated resources to opening banks inside of elementary schools. [Continue]
The best ideas in banking are often greener than its stock-and-trade currency. So it is at central Iowa’s Peoples Bank, where “clean and green” are on display from rooftop to parking lot, thanks to a recent investment to convert the nine-bank subsidiary of Green Circle Investments to 100 percent solar energy. [Continue]