Archive for month: May, 2026
Wisconsin banks started the new year strong with total assets up 8.69% year over year from March 31, 2025 to March 31, 2026. Banks continue to be a trusted place for consumers and businesses to invest their money as total deposits were up 7.57% for the same period (up 4.17% quarter over quarter). Strong deposit volume is critical for banks as they use those funds to make loans across their market areas. Despite concerns over ongoing inflation, year-over-year lending remained steady with volume increasing in commercial and industrial loans and farm loans. The Q1 net interest margin remained consistent (3.58%) with the prior quarter (3.51%) and increased from the prior year (3.33%). Wisconsin banks continue to be well capitalized with strong liquidity.
Notable indicators include:
- Commercial lending increased both quarter over quarter (7.23%) and year over year (10.73%) as commercial customers manage through ongoing economic uncertainty.
- Residential real estate loan volume decreased quarter over quarter (-10.42%) due to housing availability and fluctuating interest rates, yet increased year over year (5.46%).
- Farm lending increased quarter over quarter (19.68%) and year over year (12.39%) as farmers began preparing for new growing season needs.
- Assets in nonaccrual status saw an increase both quarter over quarter (19.71%) and year over year (20.33%) as borrowers work through economic pressures.
Statement on the release of first-quarter 2026 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) numbers from Rose Oswald Poels, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Bankers Association:
“The first quarter 2026 FDIC numbers highlight the strength of Wisconsin banks to remain the steady source during times of ongoing economic uncertainty for some markets. Bankers will continue to keep a close eye on the global supply chain, geopolitical issues, as well as the Fed’s interest rate decisions going into the rest of the year. Wisconsin consumers and business owners can continue to rely on Wisconsin banks as a consistent source of trusted financial partnership and a safe place to deposit their money.”
FDIC-Reported Wisconsin Numbers (Dollar Figures in Thousands)
| 03/31/2026 | 12/31/2025 | QoQ Change | 03/31/2025 | YoY Change | |
| Net loans and leases | $125,790,224 | $119,490,245 | 5.27% | $115,784,161 | 8.64% |
| Total deposits | $139,554,168 | $133,963,964 | 4.17% | $129,733,193 | 7.57% |
| Commercial and industrial loans | $20,980,215 | $19,566,293 | 7.23% | $18,947,428 | 10.73% |
| Residential real estate loans | $34,589,925 | $38,612,530 | -10.42% | $32,798,394 | 5.46% |
| Farm loans | $5,018,472 | $4,193,382 | 19.68% | $4,465,311 | 12.39% |
| Total assets | $174,807,481 | $167,045,236 | 4.65% | $160,833,420 | 8.69% |
| Assets in nonaccrual status | $758,922 | $633,992 | 19.71% | $630,718 | 20.33% |
Jordon Geiger
Lake Ridge Bank has added a new position to its Executive Team, elevating Jordon Geiger from Senior Vice President & Senior Trust Officer to Chief Wealth Management Officer, effective May 5.
“One of our bank priorities is to serve as a financial steward for our clients at every stage of life,” says Lake Ridge Bank President Paul Hoffmann. “Bringing a representative from Wealth Management onto the executive team provides a more direct connection between the one-on-one relationships they develop over time and the strategic planning and decision-making that happens at this level. Jordon is a great fit for this role because he is exceptional at identifying and understanding client needs and having the vision to translate that knowledge into developing tools to best serve those needs.”
Geiger has worked as part of Lake Ridge Bank’s Wealth Management team since early 2004, with the exception of a four-year stint in the middle as Director of Investor Relations for a local real estate syndicate. He earned his Master of Business Administration in Marketing from Edgewood College and received his Bachelor of Science in Finance and Real Estate from Colorado State University. He also holds a CTFA in Trust Administration. Geiger was recognized by In Business magazine as part of the 2019 Class of Forty Under 40 young leaders and stellar professionals.
“I’m excited to work with this dedicated group of executives to provide input on the bank’s strategic direction,” shares newly named Chief Wealth Management Officer Jordon Geiger. “It has always been very important to me to work with and learn from strong mentors, and I truly admire the leadership within this organization, including now-retired Dan Savage who was part of building this department from the beginning and generously shared his knowledge to help prepare me for this role.”
Geiger believes Lake Ridge Bank has become such a successful partner for its clientele because the bank’s size sits in a sweet spot between too small to have the resources or expertise and too big to provide personal attention or form real and long-lasting relationships. “The people and culture of service at our bank makes it easier to become a better advisor and true partner. We are all driven to go beyond a basic transaction in order to create holistic solutions inspired by our commitment to developing a full banking relationship. By adding a Chief Wealth Management Officer, our strategic direction is tied to easing the concerns and pain points we hear about every day working with clients across the span of their lifetimes of building wealth and establishing a financial legacy.”
Junior Achievement of Wisconsin – Northcentral District received $3,420 from Prevail Bank in support of the financial literacy and career planning curriculum materials that will be used in Marathon County classrooms.
The contribution was one of 25 awarded through Prevail Bank’s Charitable Contributions Committee. This spring, the Committee donated a total of $109,945 to nonprofits that serve low-to-moderate income households, support local economic growth, provide financial education, or enhance the quality of life for underserved populations across the communities Prevail Bank serves.
Receiving the monetary donation from Luke Champine, Branch Manager of Preval Bank (far right) were (L to R) Lisa Maahs, Junior Achievement Director; Lisa Sloan, Elementary Education Manager; Chris Kuenstler, Operations Coordinator; and Michelle Klein, Middle/High School Education Manager.
Brent Hafele
By Brent Hafele, President & CEO Performance Architect at Vibrancy Unlocked, a WBA Bronze Associate Member
For many bank executives, rising gas prices may feel like an annoyance. For some bank employees, however, they can feel much more like a pay cut.
That pressure is already showing up in the broader economy. Walmart CFO John David Rainey recently warned that consumer behavior is shifting under the weight of higher fuel prices, saying, “I think consumers are going to feel more of that pressure from higher fuel prices.”
Bank employees are consumers, too. For team members with longer commutes, lower wages, young families, or existing financial stress, a sharp increase in fuel costs can quickly become a meaningful burden. And when employees feel financially strained, that stress does not stay in the parking lot. It can follow them into the branch, into customer conversations, and into their overall level of engagement at work.
That matters. Employee engagement is directly tied to productivity, service quality, retention, and the customer experience. At a time when banks across Wisconsin are already working hard to attract and retain talent, even “temporary” financial pressure can create lasting organizational consequences.
According to Gallup’s 2025 State of the Workplace research, U.S.-based employee engagement has dropped to just 31%, the lowest level since 2017. Even more concerning, 50% of surveyed employees reported they are watching for or actively seeking a new job.
Gas prices alone are not the cause of disengagement. But they can become one more stressor layered on top of an already stretched workforce.
Hopefully, the current spike in fuel prices is temporary. Still, bank leaders would be wise not to dismiss the impact. When employees feel squeezed, banks feel it too.
Here are a few practical ways banks can support employees without immediately raising wages:
- Adjust schedules where possible. Consider longer workdays with fewer commute days for roles where coverage allows.
- Encourage carpooling. Help team members coordinate rides, especially across branches or shared geographic areas.
- Offer hybrid flexibility where feasible. Not every banking role can be remote, but some back-office, administrative, or leadership functions may allow occasional flexibility.
- Provide temporary fuel support. Gas gift cards, mileage stipends, or short-term transportation assistance can help soften the blow.
- Listen for financial stress. Managers do not need to pry, but they should pay attention. Increased irritability, distraction, absenteeism, or turnover risk may signal that employees are carrying more pressure than usual.
The best banks do not wait until employees disengage or leave before responding. They notice the pressure points early and take practical steps to support their teams.
Because when employees are under pressure, service, culture, and retention are never far behind.
Elizabeth Fenton
By Elizabeth Fenton, WBA communications coordinator
On April 29, a top national economist took the stage at the Alliant Energy Center and opened with the following remark: “The economy today is good, not great.”
Robert Dietz is the chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders. He leads a team of 12 economists and serves as the nation’s leading analyst of the residential construction industry. He spoke to bankers, policymakers, builders, realtors, and business leaders at the 2026 Wisconsin Economic Forecast Luncheon in Madison.
“The economy has certainly suffered a lot from what we’ve called headline risks,” Dietz shared. “Volatility — whether you think it is a good thing or a bad thing — is a feature of the Trump 2.0 era.”
He pointed to basic measures of the state of the economy, noting 2.1% GDP growth in 2025 — underperforming the 3% growth anticipated following nationwide investment in the tech sector. What’s more, Dietz noted that his organization downgraded its 2026 forecast to 1.9%.
“We started the year saying recession risk was around 30%,” explained Dietz. “We have now raised that to 40%, and you can find plenty of economists who think the recession risk measures at 50%.”
One of the luncheon’s main focuses was housing and its connection to inflation. Dietz maintained that shelter costs continue to be one of the largest contributors to inflation in the United States.
“For the last three years, more than 50% of the gain in consumer inflation in the CPI has been housing, rent costs, and homeownership costs,” Dietz explained. “The cost of construction is too high relative to household incomes.”
Shelter inflation has been growing even faster than overall inflation. If the Fed wants to see inflation return to 2%, there’s one simple solution: increase the number of attainable houses for sale.
“My message to policymakers in D.C. and the state houses everywhere is to reduce the cost of construction and increase the amount of available inventory of housing,” said Dietz.
He further contended that at the crux of the nation’s housing shortage is a supply-side problem driven by labor shortages, regulatory costs, and rising construction costs. About a quarter of a typical new build single-family home’s purchase price is made up in regulatory costs.
“Taxes, fee permits, delays, land you can’t build on — there’s a whole stack of problems,” emphasized Dietz.
Despite those challenges, Wisconsin — and the broader Midwest — is a bright spot in the national housing market. While the national market dipped 7%, Wisconsin grew by 3% in single-family home building. Older, wealthier buyers are stabilizing the market in the Midwest, “even more than Texas and Florida,” Dietz explained.
A panel discussion followed featuring Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) economist Scott Hodek and Bank Five Nine President and CEO Tim Schneider.
Despite the uncertainty that Dietz outlined to luncheon attendees, Schneider opened the discussion by saying he remains “modestly optimistic” about Wisconsin’s economy.
“I think the economy in the state is actually in pretty good condition,” said Schneider. He specifically noted how the housing market continues to expand in and around Oconomowoc. “We did nearly $400 million in activity last year in our mortgage department.”
Both Hodek and Schneider agreed that their respective fields are experiencing labor shortages, and these challenges persevere as some of Wisconsin’s longest-term economic concerns. Hodek shared that DWD continues to have trouble filling open skilled positions.
“We’ve seen offshore and automation hits throughout the last couple decades. We are seeing rising productivity. However, those don’t necessarily indicate the health of the industry.”
On a brighter note, Hodek praised the strong workforce training pipeline in the state. The federal government recently awarded Wisconsin a $7.3 million grant supporting the development of advanced manufacturing and AI skills.
“We do have a really good education system,” shared Hodek. “That’s not just K-12 and the UW system, but it’s also apprenticeship programs, registered apprenticeships, and youth apprenticeships.”
Schneider summed up the general uneasiness from recent headlines that continue to take swings at consumer and business confidence.
“The headline uncertainty these days is probably the biggest challenge we are facing. They keep coming at us,” he explained. “We had the presidential election. Then there were tariffs. Now there is the Iran war. There is always something that is preventing us from returning to normalcy.”
Despite the ongoing national and global challenges that may cause some consumers to pause, the luncheon’s speakers carried a message that was overall calm rather than alarmist. Many attendees left with the takeaway to lean into stability and long-term planning during these periods of slower growth.
Elizabeth Fenton
By Elizabeth Fenton, WBA communications coordinator
Banking is one of the world’s oldest professions, dating all the way back to ancient Mesopotamia. Yet for all its history, the Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) remains firmly focused on what lies ahead. This attention on the future is threaded through all of WBA’s initiatives: education, advocacy, and — perhaps most meaningful of all — in efforts to invest in the next generation of banking leaders.
At the heart of that work is the Wisconsin Bankers Foundation (WBF), the charitable arm of the WBA, that awards scholarships to students pursuing degrees related to the financial services industry. The Agricultural Banking Scholarship, which opens to Wisconsin students every fall, represents the Foundation’s targeted efforts to bolster the state’s rural economy — and further, the younger generation who will one day take up the mantle.
The most recent recipients of the 2025 scholarship, Victoria Seif and Janelle Wolfe, are both pursuing degrees in agricultural business at the University of Wisconsin–River Falls. Rose Oswald Poels, WBF chair, treasurer, and executive director, and Cathy Asher, WBA Agricultural Section member, made a special trip to the UW–River Falls campus to present checks and congratulate the winners.
But — after the checks are cashed and the stage is crossed, what happens to these promising young Wisconsinites? Further, how does a small investment in a student’s future take shape over time?
To answer these questions, Elizabeth Fenton, WBA communications coordinator, sat down with two past scholarship winners — Chad Achenbach and Jenna Raisbeck — whose careers offer a preview into the longer arc of WBF’s investment.
Seeds of Interest
Neither Achenbach nor Raisbeck entered college with the banking industry in mind.
Achenbach grew up on a small family farm just north of Prairie du Chien, Wis., surrounded by the commercial agriculture that frames the Mississippi River. He spent his early years immersed in livestock showing and participating in nearly every facet of the industry. His path seemed clear early on: a future in veterinary medicine.
“I’m a huge Wisconsin Badgers fan. I even got accepted! I was ready to sign — but I wanted to be closer to home. I thought Madison might be too big of a city. I loved showing and didn’t want to give it up.”
Achenbach opted for UW-Platteville instead, just an hour away from his childhood farm. Despite his plan to only attend for a year or two, he met like-minded young people with a similar passion for agriculture and decided to stay all four years. Achenbach enrolled in his first agricultural finance and farm management classes. Family friend Mark Forsythe, board member and retired president of Peoples State Bank in Prairie du Chien, offered Achenbach his first internship in agricultural lending. This role blended numbers, relationships, and agriculture in a way he hadn’t previously considered.
“It opened my eyes to what’s out there,” he shared. “I always liked math, and I liked working with people in ag. This job brought those two together.”
In a similar vein, Raisbeck’s entry into banking sprung from a personal connection. A family friend at CFB Bank helped her secure an internship as a credit analyst — a vote of confidence that ultimately inspired the rest of her career.
“I hardly knew what the role was at first,” Raisbeck explained. “I just wanted to get my foot in the door somewhere.”
Raisbeck is a native of Lancaster, Wis. and attended college a few miles away at UW-Platteville. She was studying finance and management, without a clear direction of where — or what — her degree would lead to.
“Finance is great because it’s so broad, right? Every company needs a finance person, but then how do you narrow down what you want to do?”
Her momentum in banking grew quickly. She continued her studies — eventually earning a master’s degree in organizational change leadership — all while remaining at the bank and building her career in tandem with her education.
“Being able to apply what I was learning in real time made a huge difference,” she said. “It wasn’t just textbook anymore.”
The early narratives of both scholarship winners offer an inspiring portrait of the industry: bankers recognized potential early and welcomed young, motivated professionals with little experience and allowed them to grow under mentorship.
Beyond the Office
A common misconception in banking is that all work happens behind a desk. Bankers often emphasize that they work in the community — and they mean this in the literal sense. Agriculture banking, at its core, is a boots-on-the-ground job.
Achenbach’s work takes him far out of town, through muddy fields and into Amish horse-and-buggy countryside. Conversations occur at fence lines and around kitchen tables — the very paragon of hands-on, personal banking.
“Farmers are so busy day-to-day. They don’t really have a slow time of the year.” Achenbach explained. “I like to get out on the farm itself, walk through their inventory with them, and talk through numbers — that’s the part I enjoy most.”
His reverence for farmers and their operation is shaped by both his upbringing as well as the culture at his community bank. With degrees in agricultural business and animal science — and firsthand experience in both small-scale and large-scale agriculture — he brings a level of fluency that resonates with the people he serves.
Raisbeck sees the same personal connections play out across her bank.
“Farm visits are definitely not out of the ordinary,” she explained. “We go out to operations and drop off lunches during harvest season — those things make a big difference.”
We live in an era of increasing digital interaction and less face-to-face communication. However, both scholarship winners describe the immutable importance of personal relationships that endures within community banking.
An Ever-Evolving Role
One of the most striking commonalities between Achenbach and Raisbeck is how early they entered the banking industry and how quickly they were able to climb the ranks.
Raisbeck — impressively — balanced full-time work with full-time school. She walked 10 minutes to class at UW-Platteville, then commuted to work after a long day of classes. She reflects on this challenge with a sense of much-deserved pride.
“I was working full time during undergrad,” she said. “That’s why I was able to grow the way I did. I am very grateful for it.”
Her head start paid off quickly. She currently works as a portfolio management officer, a title many professionals spend years striving toward.
Achenbach’s transition into full-time banking carried a new kind of pressure after college graduation; he felt the same uncertainty that so many college seniors face when making the jump into their first job.
“A summer internship is one thing. There is a start date and an end date,” he shared. “A full-time role could last years. I felt a lot of pressure to make the right decision.”
Ultimately, the familiarity of the work, paired with encouragement from mentors, brought him back into agricultural lending.
“They told me, ‘Just come try it! We think you’re going to enjoy it. You’ll have a great career in it,’” he said. “And they were right. They took me under their wing, introduced me to customers, and taught me the basics.”
The willingness to take a chance on a promising twenty-something — exhibited by both Raisbeck and Achenbach’s banks — is the very moment the WBF scholarship seeks to support.
The Inspiration of Scholarships
For both scholarship winners, receiving the WBF check felt kismet. Achenbach admitted that he looked into other industries, but the enticement of a busier branch, the enthusiasm of his mentors, and the excitement of working with a mix of agricultural and commercial customers beckoned him back to the very place he started his internship.
“The opportunity kind of ignited my interest,” Achenbach described.
For Raisbeck, the WBF scholarship carried personal and community-wide significance.
“In southwest Wisconsin, agriculture is such a big part of everything,” she shared. “Having a scholarship that recognizes that — and recognizes the students going through it — is really special.”
Banking — especially agricultural banking — is not necessarily top of mind for young professionals and early encouragement can play a pivotal role in shaping career decisions. When WBA members share WBF scholarship opportunities with their neighbors, friends, and greater community members, it puts banking on the radar of young people trying to determine their next step.
The scholarship ultimately rewards students preparing to enter these important fields, all while reinforcing the great range of opportunities within them. Raisbeck said it best: “There’s so much more to banking than people realize. Once you’re in it, you see how many different opportunities there are.”
A Leap of Faith
The true impact of the WBF scholarships is measured over time in the careers that take root in Wisconsin’s communities. Victoria Seif and Janelle Wolfe stand at the beginning of their journey as part of the new generation poised to carry the torch forward. Banking may be one of the oldest professions in the world, but its continued success hinges on the people willing to grow within it.
Linda Gage
Congratulations to Linda Gage, who recently retired from National Exchange Bank & Trust.
Gage joined the bank in 1978 as a customer service representative. Over the years, she advanced into leadership roles and was promoted to operations officer for the Montello office in 2013, where she oversaw deposit operations and supported customers. Most recently, she also provided operational oversight for the Princeton office.
A lifelong Oxford resident, Gage is a graduate of Westfield High School. She has been actively involved in the community through volunteer work with the Salvation Army and service on the Montello School District Scholarship Committee.
National Exchange Bank & Trust is an independent Wisconsin-based bank with 32 convenient locations. For more information, visit the bank’s website at nebat.com.
