Banknotes

By: Stanley Koopmans, Senior Vice President – Commercial Banker

Traditional commercial loans typically offer a fixed interest rate for 3 to 5 years, with the need to renew the loan and establish a new interest rate at maturity. However, a valid concern in our current low-interest environment is that interest rates will be substantially higher when the loan matures.

By: Ryan Kelley, Commercial Appraisal Specialist

In April 2018, federal bank examiners raised the appraisal threshold for commercial real estate properties from $250,000 to $500,000. For many business owners, this has provided a degree of relief, as it’s accordingly reduced both loan fees and the time required to get to closing. Many banks now seek to obtain evaluations instead of appraisal reports, when appropriate.

By: Nick Grays, Senior Commercial Portfolio Manager

For the past two decades (at least), the prioritization of data collection and its related analysis – a field commonly known as "analytics" – has surged. It’s the reason that a statistics nerd like me has a job in banking! For some businesses that were already successful before the analytics boom, it may be a struggle to understand what all the fuss is about.

By: Ben Swanson, Business Banking Officer

Football is back! Time for tailgates, crisp autumn air, and untold hours spent following the exploits of Wisconsin’s most vaunted sports institution, the Green Bay Packers. If you’re like me, you’ve been waiting for this all summer, and you can’t wait to see how the new head coach and offensive coordinator are going to guide the offense and leverage the talents of one of the game’s all-time great quarterbacks.

By: Jordon Geiger, Vice President and Trust Officer

I was doing some spring cleaning in my office recently, and came across a stack of periodicals from 2009/10 that, in stark terms, painted a picture of the business environment in Wisconsin at the time.

By: Stanley Koopmans, Senior Vice President – Commercial Banker

When it comes to your company’s operating line of credit (LOC), Goldilocks had the right idea.

Rather than trying to get approved for the largest possible LOC your business may qualify for, it’s much better to evaluate your expectations for the year, and attempt to match your credit line as closely as possible to your anticipated needs. This approach also helps cover the scenario where your current LOC won’t be adequate to support projected growth.

Not too big. Not too small. It’s time to make sure your current LOC is a perfect fit.

By: Jeff Ellestad, Treasury Management Sales Officer

Many businesses today are becoming more and more aware of the risks associated with payment fraud.  And, quite frankly, they should be.  While the network of fraudsters only continues to get larger, these savvy individuals and networks are always on pace, or even a few steps ahead of the game, and are ready to attack.  They have become so sophisticated on their efforts to successfully intercept corporate funds, that by the time a company thinks they might be a victim, it’s far too late.

Marc McMerty, Assistant Vice President - Commercial Relationship Manager

Early in my career as a commercial banker, I was surprised to learn that some businesses think of their banking relationship as a necessary evil. They need the bank for financial reporting and sometimes a loan or line of credit, but mainly they want their bank to leave them alone. "They'll let us know when they need us."

I was surprised, I think, because I know what goes on behind the scenes at our bank and the conversations that take place in sincere support of our customers. Our greatest asset as a bank is our customers. We only succeed if you succeed.

Benjamin Swanson, Business Banker

Working as a Business Banker for the State Bank of Cross Plains, I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work with a wide variety of businesses. Because most of the businesses I work with are spread across different industries, I have developed a tendency to look at the annual business cycle in generalities. For example, January and February is the time when I see most businesses finishing their annual reviews from the year prior, and using that information to plan for the year ahead. September and October tend to be the time of the year when companies are doing that last benchmark check with the annual goals and budget, and looking at what needs to get done before year end. 

By: George Ohlendorf, V.P. Commercial Banker

In the last two years I have not spoken with a business owner or human resources manager, regardless of the industry, that is not having difficulty finding employees. 

Many of us know that great companies like Honda Motorcycle failed and Levis Jeans is not nearly the dominating force in the jeans market it once was. What many of us don’t know is that both of these companies faced the same problem; not enough people of the right age to buy their products. This same shortage of consumers contributed to the great recession because there simply were not enough people to buy the inventory of homes.