Writer: Tony Telschow

Learn how Minnesota banker Jim Sneer laid the foundation for United Prairie Bank, Mankato, Minn., during the ag crisis of the 1980s. [Continue]

Daniel Padilla moved with his wife and three kids to the United States from Guatemala in 1993. He came with a business administration degree and an interest in the hotel/hospitality industry, but after a brief time working for an American hotel he took a job at First National Bank of Omaha, Neb. It was a … Read more

Bryan Bruns formed some of his strongest ideals while away from his Annandale, Minn., home,  but the ideals tended to have a hometown connection just the same. His best career advice came while he was working at a summer camp. Bruns didn’t get along well with his boss at first, and he mentioned that fact … Read more

At the beginning of 2003 Annette Russell had been in the succession plan at Security Federal Savings Bank, Logansport, Ind., for several years. She was an executive vice president poised to succeed the bank’s CEO, who was just 60 years old at the time, very active in the bank and apparently not near retirement. The … Read more

Andrew Sexton’s father Thomas, a lifelong corporate attorney born in Iowa and living in St. Paul, Minn., started buying small Iowa banks with his brothers during the farm crisis of the 1980s. The elder Sexton encouraged his children to consider roles in one of the banks or in his St. Paul-based multi-charter BART Bank Group. … Read more

Pat Artz decided to hit the road after college. More specifically, the North Dakota State University graduate began what he now calls a “nomadic” existence as a custom harvester. Each year he trekked south from his home acreage in North Dakota to Oklahoma, whence he operated a combine for farm clients all along the 800-odd-mile … Read more

Connection is an important theme in Lesly Couper’s career. A casual connection to the soccer team her husband used to coach gave Couper the pivotal job lead that got her out of ad agencies, where she worked as a graphic designer, and into the marketing department of a bank. Her current mission is to make … Read more

Todd Means started his banking career while in college at the University of Iowa, encouraged by his father who was then the market president of a community bank in Iowa City. During his senior year, Means moved into a full-time job as a personal banker while he completed his studies in economics. By then he … Read more

Summer work: Banks face season of compliance and catch-up [Continue]

Illinois bank comes out of the crisis with a bigger balance sheet—and a new HQ in the works. [Continue]