Independent Banker - July 2020 - 37

well. But that doesn't mean they
aren't able to mold their positions
to best fit their skill sets, Gudajtes
says. A boomerang employee, he has
climbed the ranks at Choice Bank
each time he returned to work at the
bank over the past 16 years. He's
been in his current position just over
a year and has made it his own.
" The person I replaced didn't have
the exact duties I have, " he says.
" We maintain a level of flexibility
of any position; we're not rigid in
titles and duties. We believe a lot in
people power. We're not trying to fit
the round employee into a square
job. We're small enough and flexible
enough that we can morph those
duties to fit the person's strength. "
One thing that many of the
community bank's employees have
in common is deep agricultural
experience. " We have a very strong
underwriting team that has a great
interest in agriculture, and we
consider many of them to be experts, "
says Gudajtes, who farms sugar beets,
edible beans, soybeans, wheat and
barley. " For instance, we have guys in
the sugar beet and potato areas, and
those guys know that industry inside
and out. Likewise, we have employees
who live more in the cattle ranching
areas and own cattle themselves,
and that helps them understand that
industry inside and out. "
That deep ag knowledge
means loan officers can examine
loan applications from farmers
and ranchers with a profound
understanding of their business.
" We take a strong look at every
credit that comes through, " Gudajtes
says. " We look at each credit
individually. We look at each farm on
its own merits and try to find remedies
that work for that particular operation.
I'm proud to say that even in this
stressed ag economy, we've renewed
almost every customer this year, and
we have grown our business picking
up customers from other lenders. "
Choice Bank's agricultural lending team works closely with the community bank's
insurance managers, such as Jason Tryan (right), pictured helping a client determine
the best coverage for her operation's needs.
Agriculture: $1 billion or more
Rank
Bank name
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Fidelity Bank & Trust
The Farmers & Merchants State Bank
First Financial Bank
United Bank of Iowa
American Bank Center
CNB Bank & Trust, N.A.
BankWest, Inc.
Opportunity Bank of Montana
State Bank of Cross Plains
The Bank of Commerce
Security First Bank
Dacotah Bank
MidWestOne Bank
Choice Bank
First Bank & Trust
First International Bank & Trust
Live Oak Banking Company
Starion Bank
The Farmers & Merchants Bank
Heartland Bank
City
Dyersville
Archbold
El Dorado
Ida Grove
Dickinson
Carlinville
Pierre
Helena
Cross Plains
Idaho Falls
Rushville
Aberdeen
Iowa City
Fargo
Brookings
Watford City
Wilmington
Bismarck
Stuttgart
Whitehall
State
IA
OH
AR
IA
ND
IL
SD
MT
WI
ID
NE
SD
IA
ND
SD
ND
NC
ND
AR
OH
Commercial Lender
Score
92.6
88.8
87.8
85.3
82.9
82.8
82.0
81.7
80.7
80.5
79.7
79.6
79.1
78.6
78.3
78.1
77.7
77.4
76.6
76.5
independentbanker.org Q 37
http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - July 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - July 2020
