a publication of the First National Bank Bemidji

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1 messenger the a publication of the First National Bank Bemidji Spring 2017 Downtown Express Fund your IRA Employee News WCHA Conference Champs 21 st ANNUAL Lumberjack Bonspiel Message from the president. Another year has come and gone. As we look back upon 2016 and reflect on the performance of the bank, it has to be noted that the bank is merely reflective of the community that we serve. We continue to be a locally-owned community bank operating just in Bemidji. I believe the recent article that was written on Bemidji in the Twin Cities Business Review magazine was a great reflection on the growth and vitality of our community. We are very blessed with the economic diversity and growth but, more importantly, the vitality of the people who live here. We are well pleased that First National Bank results continue to be reflective of the Bemidji community. This past year, the bank saw growth in total assets of about 3.50 percent, ending the year at $675 million in assets. We also experienced strong loan growth of nearly 9 percent, ending the year with loans to customers within our community of $382 million. The bank continues to be one of the strongest capitalized in the country for a bank of our size at 14 percent. We are more than grateful to you, our customer, who accounts for these positive results for our bank. We anticipate that 2017 may show slightly smaller growth results but still will reflect positive trends. There continues to be ever new and expanding opportunities within our community. continued inside 1

2 We continue to experience some of our long-term staff retiring to enjoy something other than working every day. Our most recent retiree was Darlene Dorr, having been with First National Bank for 40 years. Another long-time employee, Sales and Marketing Director Susan Engel, who has worked here for 34 years, is looking forward to her retirement on March 31, Now is a great time for you to establish or build your retirement funds so you will be able to enjoy that time in your life. We offer many opportunities through IRAs and investments with either bank products or non-bank products. See one of our Deposit Services specialists who also happen to be specialists in IRA management. They can assist you in working toward retirement years you will be able to enjoy. Our retirements allow for new opportunities for our new staff noted in this issue of The Messenger to grow within the organization and enjoy a long and productive career with our bank. We have been very fortunate to find so many young, dedicated, qualified and committed people to join our staff. They will continue to provide quality service to you, our customers. I hope you will take the opportunity to enjoy the remainder of this beautiful winter season doing whatever it is you love during the colder-weather months. Personally, I can t imagine going anywhere else and not being able to experience and enjoy such winter activities as ice fishing and curling. Sincerely, Thomas E. Welle 30th Anniversary of Downtown Express. FNBB celebrated the 30th Anniversary of our Downtown Express office on December 29, Connie Schmidt and Karen Oftelie, previous managers of the branch, were there throughout the day to visit with customers as well as serve donuts and coffee. We also gave away mobile phone car mounts and gift certificates to various downtown businesses. It was a great day to visit with our customers and reminisce about the past 30 years. 2

3 Take a tax break. Fund your IRA. 12 Retirement Tips 1 Don t go it alone. Retirement planning is complex. Get help from a trusted advisor. 7 Make it automatic. A little every pay period adds up. We can help you with an automatic payment to a savings account to fund your IRA. 2 Retiring? An IRA rollover will protect the tax-deferred status of your retirement savings. 8 Fund before tax day. Take advantage of tax deferred interest compounding for the whole year. You can make your IRA deposit as early as January 1st for any tax year Special children in your life? You can open a tax-deferred Coverdell Education Savings Account (CESA) to give them a good start. Maximize your tax advantage. Fund a Roth and a Traditional IRA. Check with your tax advisor to determine if you qualify. Catch Up! If you are over 50 years of age, you can use Catch Up contributions to save on taxes and save more for retirement. Saving early is important. Tax deferral and compounding are powerful investment tools. Make sure you take advantage of them Don t forget your spouse. You can fund a spousal IRA even if your spouse is retired or not currently employed. As long as you file a joint tax return, and one of you has earned income, you may be eligible to fund a spousal IRA. There are four ways to have earned income. Income earned from a job. Income earned by a working spouse. Income from alimony. Income from self-employment. Don t miss out. If your employer has funded another tax-deferred retirement plan for you, you can still fund your own IRA and take advantage of the tax-deferral. Invest for security. IRAs are a long-term savings program and you are not allowed to deduct your losses. Your deposits are insured by the FDIC and protected by our strong capital position. 3

4 FNBB Retiree. On March 31st, 2017, Sue Engel will be retiring after a 34-year career at First National Bank Bemidji. She started on April 4th, She began her FNBB career as a teller and in 1985 became the assistant supervisor. In 1987, Sue was named Teller Supervisor and also served on the Marketing Committee. She added Marketing to her duties in 1991 and graduated from the American Bankers Association Marketing School in In 1996, Sue was named Sales and Marketing Director. She received recognition for an Outstanding 1995 School of Bank Marketing Paper and a First Place ABA Financial Marketing Award in 2009 in the area of using humor. BSU Beaver Pride, Beltrami County Adult Day Services Board and Kinship North. Sue continues an active role in the Boys and Girls Club of the Bemidji Area after serving as the first President and board member, Chair of the Resource Development committee and the annual Gala committee. She was named the 2004 United Way Volunteer of the Year and was inducted into the Bemidji State University Hall of Fame as the John Glass Honorary Letter Winner in Sue looks forward to continuing volunteer work, walking, gardening, following Bemidji State University sports, doing crafts and spending time with friends and family. She often states she came to the bank looking for a job and ended up with a career. Sue has enjoyed her 34 years at FNBB and the many friendships and partnership she has made with the Bemidji community members and organizations. Rebecca Bentfield has been working with Sue for two years and will be overseeing marketing and FNBB donations. Her career began in 1994 in the Transaction Processing Area. After taking a few years off to be with her young children, Becky returned to the bank in January, She looks forward to the opportunities of promoting First National Bank Bemidji s product and services offerings as well as continuing to grow partnerships with customers and organizations that serve the community of Bemidji. Highlights of her marketing career include her work on First National Bank Bemidji s 100th anniversary in 1997, coordinating the planting of annual flowers each year, and the 2008 Grand Opening of the FNBB Main office including a Bemidji Symphony performance in the Garden Court. Sue has enjoyed promoting a community bank that has an ongoing history of commitment to Bemidji, customers, employees and the many local organizations that make this a great place to live and work. She also served as Secretary/ Treasurer of the First National Bank Bemidji Foundation. Volunteering has been an important part of her bank role and personal life. She has served on the Bemidji Area Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors, the United Way of Bemidji Area Board, Minnesota Public Radio Advisory Board, advisory boards for Bemidji High School and NTC business education, Bemidji High School Bank, Please join us Friday, March 31st from 3-4:30 to celebrate Sue s retirement. After 40+ years in banking, Darlene Dorr made a substantial withdrawal. Herself! Darlene Dorr we all wish Darlene a wonderful retirement! Member FDIC 4

5 New Employees. FNBB Anniversaries. Laura Welle joined First National Bank on December 30, 2016 as Retail Loan Support in our Retail Lending Department. She was born and raised in Colorado, moved to the Twin Cities in 2008 and has lived in Bemidji since Her main hobby is spending as much time as possible with her husband Isaac and their 6-month-old son John. Laura also enjoys fishing and spending time outdoors, unless it s winter, then she enjoys being inside in her pajamas. Alex Underbakke was hired on January 17, 2017 as a fulltime CSR. He enjoys spending time with family and friends, working with computers, playing music and walking the trails at the state park. Teal Berglund joined First National Bank on January 23, 2017 as a full-time CSR. She recently moved back to Bemidji after living in Duluth for 6 years. Teal is attending online classes majoring in Child Development and will be graduating in May with her certificate and her diploma in December. She loves being outdoors and spending time with family, fishing, hunting, camping and four-wheeling. Chloe Falk joined First National Bank on January 24, 2017 as a full time CSR. She was raised in Bemidji and now resides with her husband in Tenstrike, MN on his family s farm. They raise Black Angus beef cattle along with cropland. Chloe is also currently taking classes at NTC. She enjoys taking her dogs for walks throughout their property and helping her husband and father-in-law with things around the farm. Charlene Olson was hired on January 30, 2017 as a full-time Customer Transaction Representative. She grew up in Svea, a small town South of Willmar, MN. Her husband went to BSU and they enjoy the dragon boat races and ice fishing with friends every year so they decided to move up to Bemidji this past fall. Charlene has mainly worked in the restaurant and retail business. She enjoys cooking, crocheting, painting, traveling and just sitting around the campfire. She has three grown children and one granddaughter YEARS Gail Henne was hired on 1/22/82 as a drive up teller at the Main Bank on 5th Street. She later transferred to Check Processing and later served as Supervisor until transferring to the Consumer Loan Payment area. Gail began her Real Estate career as an In House Loan Processor and later as a Secondary Market Processor, a role she continues today. Gail reflects on her real estate work, I have seen many changes in the industry. When I first started in Real Estate we did manual calculations and typed up forms on the typewriter. Today they are all driven by computer software, and we do the input. The satisfaction I get from working in real estate is in assisting someone to purchase a home, as it is still one of the greatest accomplishments in life. Lately we have been able to help people refinance, as the rates are at the lowest I have ever seen them. I have been a participant of our Relay for Life team for a number of years. This is such an inspiring event that I would encourage you to come out and take a few laps around the course. You will be very moved by the experience, Gail comments on her American Cancer Society experiences. Gail s daughter, Angele, lives in the state of Washington. Summer vacation time is usually spent with her friend, Chet on Lake of the Woods, where life is simple and peaceful. She enjoys reading, taking walks and spending time with family and friends. First National Bank Bemidji thanks Gail for her thirty-five years of commitment to our partners and community. 25 YEARS Jan Loisel began her career at First National Bank Bemidji in January of 1992 as teller at First National Bank Bemidji Downtown Express Office. In 1996, she transferred to the Deposit Services and Investment department at the Main Office. In 2001, Jan was named Manager of First National Bank Bemidji South, which opened in May, which is the position she continues today. Throughout the years, Jan has served on the Bemidji Youth Hockey board. She has also been actively involved with Junior Achievement in the local schools. Jan has also contributed to the First National Bank Bemidji Bonspiel for BHS activities and has worked with several Bemidji High School booster committees. Jan is a member of BSU Beaver Pride. Jan and her husband Kevin live in Bemidji. They have two children; Abbey graduated from BSU and currently lives in the Bemidji area and Adam who is a senior at MNSU. Jan and Kevin enjoy golfing, attending various BSU sporting events, and spending time with family. Congratulations and thank you, Jan for your commitment to our First National Bank Bemidji partners. Jan continues to open deposit accounts, make consumer loans, and serve the many customers at the First National Bank Bemidji South.

6 WCHA Conference Champs. First National Bank Bemidji congratulates the BSU men s hockey team for winning the WCHA conference. Coach Tom Serratore brought the McNaughton Cup into the Main and Express Offices on Monday, February 13th for some photos and to thank supporters. First National Bank Bemidji is a proud supporter of BSU and student athletes and has been a supporting partner since BSU opened its doors in Go Beavers! 21st Annual Lumberjack Bonspiel. The Lumberjack Bonspiel, which is held once a year on a Friday and Saturday in March at the Bemidji Curling Club, raises money to benefit the Bemidji School District Activity Department through the Bemidji Lumberjack Foundation. First National Bank Bemidji with the help of our Bonspiel Committee and many volunteers has been organizing and sponsoring this event for 20 plus years now! The 21st annual Lumberjack Bonspiel will be held on March 24th and 25th. This Bonspiel is a fun way to get out and curl while raising money for a great cause. It is a novice spiel, so each team of 4 will have 2 players who are beginner curlers. Even if you are not entered on a team during this event, the Bemidji Curling Club is open to the public to watch a game or two. Come see what the game is all about! If you are interested in the event or would like more information about entering a team or sponsor, please contact Jamie Haskell at Last year, the Lumberjack Bonspiel raised $19, to benefit Bemidji Middle and High School Activities. 6