It took some chutzpah for Jerry Baack, Jeff Shellberg, and Rachael Petersen to start Bridgewater Bank, from scratch in 2005, when economists and finance experts aplenty were claiming that there were too many banks. Six years and 23 profitable quarters later, however, their boldness has paid off. Bridgewater Bank, in Bloomington, Minn., is now a … Read more
Sue Sjoselius, the marketing director/retail manager of Minneapolis’s Northeast Bank, almost wasn’t a banker at all. Thanks to a little bit of luck and a lot of hard work, she’s one of this year’s Outstanding Women in Banking. The luck came when Sjoselius – pronounced “show-SEE-lee-us” – was looking for a part-time job 26 years … Read more
Times are good, and if risk is managed effectively, rural markets should remain strong for quite some time. [Continue]
As loan demand flounders, community banks are increasingly beefing up their holdings of municipal bonds. How safe are these traditionally reliable investments? [Continue]
Design trends reflect the changing market for community banks. [Continue]
Cap on debit interchange fee may be windfall for merchants, detrimental to banks and consumers. [Continue]