Bremer Bank Names New Grand Forks President and CEO
Grand Forks, N.D. - April 22, 2008 - Bremer Bank, a regional financial services company jointly-owned by its employees and the Otto Bremer Foundation, announced today that Russ Erickson, a Bremer senior Business Banking manager in Grand Forks, has been named president and chief executive officer of Bremer's Grand Forks charter. Mike Porter, current president and CEO, announced his retirement in January and will complete his 34-year banking career at the end of 2008.
“We have a lot of great talent at Bremer and I had the luxury of selecting the next Grand Forks charter president from an extremely strong pool of candidates,” said Kevin Powers, regional president for Bremer's Western region. “Given that, Russ has proven he's the ideal candidate for this position as he brings an extensive banking career to the job. His leadership skills and banking expertise complement a financial services team that is committed to taking action for Bremer clients and our community."
Erickson joined Bremer Bank in Grafton in 1981, where he served as an Agricultural loan officer and senior lender. He joined the Bremer Bank in Grand Forks as senior vice president of Ag lending in 1994 and was promoted to senior Business Banking manager in 2002. Over the years, he's had responsibility for sales and credit functions for all business loans and has extensive experience with Ag lending. Previously, he was a correspondent banker with the Bank of North Dakota in Bismarck.
A graduate of North Dakota State University, Erickson has been involved with numerous nonprofits including the Grand Forks Community Foundation, the North Dakota Credit Review Board, Grafton Chamber of Commerce, Grafton Economic Development Committee and the Lutheran Sunset Nursing Home Board.
“This leadership transition should be seamless for employees and clients,” said Powers. “Mike Porter has agreed to stay on through year-end to make this change as smooth as possible and we have a very talented and experienced team in the marketplace, which has worked with Russ for many years - our clients will continue to receive the same high level of service they've come to expect at Bremer.”
Bremer Financial Corporation
Bremer Financial Corporation is a privately-held, $7.5 billion regional financial services company jointly owned by its employees and the Otto Bremer Foundation. This unique ownership structure is the only one of its kind in the nation. Founded in 1943 by Otto Bremer, the company is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota and provides a comprehensive range of banking, investment, trust and insurance services to more than 100 locations in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. Company profits are distributed in the form of charitable grants by the Otto Bremer Foundation to communities served by Bremer. In 2007, more than $30 million in charitable donations were given across the Bremer footprint and employees donated more than 92,900 volunteer hours to their communities.