• Home
  • Education
  • News and Resources
  • Advocacy
  • Associate Members
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
News
Advocacy, Community, Member News

Community Advocate of the Month: Bob Becker, Black River Country Bank, Black River Falls

The following is a brief interview between WBA President and CEO Rose Oswald Poels and Black River Country Bank, Black River Falls President and CEO Bob Becker.

Rose: How did you first get into the banking industry?

Bob: When I enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, I had plans of becoming an engineer, but like many young adults, I changed my mind and ultimately decided to obtain a degree in business administration. During that time, I became especially interested in the economic classes I was taking, and that helped me start thinking about a career in banking. Fortunately for me, when I graduated, my local bank was looking for a loan officer, and I was lucky enough to be chosen for the job.

What is your favorite aspect of your role at your bank?

I have two favorite aspects of my role with our bank. The first is the ability to interact within our local community. Starting out as a loan officer, I was able to help people make some of the most important decisions in their lives happen. Helping people with buying a new car, buying a home, starting a business, or expanding the family farm — it is extremely enjoyable to help them reach their goals and dreams. As my career progressed and my leadership role in the bank expanded, it has been a joy to expand that interaction to larger community initiatives. I take great pride in what we have been able to do to help the Jackson County communities thrive and prosper. The second is leading a great group of fellow employees and helping them establish the foundation for a commitment to our bank and our community. These commitments help us establish a true family amongst our employees and customers. I was fortunate to have three great mentors when I started in banking, Winston Zeman, Glen Goeman, and Steve Zeman. Each was a great community banker, and I can only hope that I have been able to pass on some of what they willingly passed on to me.

What do you wish the general public understood about the banking industry?

I would like the general public to understand what a good, strong community bank can do for a local economy. It is a strong employer for the local economy. It reinvests in the local economy. It supports the local charitable organizations in the local economy. It lends leadership to many of the local organizations. It supports youth organizations and activities with sponsorships. It supports young adults with college scholarships. And it supplies the banking services that you need, in the convenient fashion that you would like, and at the lowest possible cost that is maintainable. In today’s world, we all have more and more options for our needs and services, but if we look at all the good that a local community bank does for its community, why would we ever consider the financial services choices we can make that don’t include a great personal relationship with your local community banker.

Where do you believe the industry’s greatest challenges are in the next three to five years?

I believe the industry’s greatest challenge in the next 3–5 years is continuing to safeguard the personal information and financial assets of our customers. The ever-expanding desire and need for instant and convenient access to our money and financial information is a huge challenge for the industry. We are committed to delivering as much of this to our customers as possible, but it comes with added challenges. It seems like the financial and cyber exploitation business is growing by leaps and bounds. Trying to stay in front of these organizations is a daunting task.

Every day, bankers serve their local communities by helping their customers achieve their financial dreams. Please describe your current role at your bank and share with us one of your more rewarding experiences.

I have been with the Black River Country Bank for 35 years, and I currently serve as president and chief executive officer, along with being the president of the bank’s holding company, BRAD, Inc.

My most rewarding experience is our Community Good Neighbor Day. This is a day that we as a group choose to participate in and help out our community members who need a helping hand. We have a local organization that we work with that allows us to identify local households that may need help with fall cleanup of their property. Our bank family breaks up into small groups and participates in a day of helping clean yards, some that were planned ahead of time and some that just happen on the spur of the moment. The joy of the day is not only seeing the good you do, but seeing how the employee family works together to accomplish as many things as possible and also the joy that is delivered to the recipients who can have one worry taken off their shoulders.

Print 🖨
June 13, 2022/by Hannah Flanders
Tags: Community Advocate
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Share on Vk
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Untitled-3_Blue.jpg 972 1920 Hannah Flanders https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg Hannah Flanders2022-06-13 07:29:092022-06-13 07:29:09Community Advocate of the Month: Bob Becker, Black River Country Bank, Black River Falls
You might also like
Triangle BackgroundCommunity Advocate of the Month: Cynthia Erdman, Farmers & Merchants Bank of Kendall, Kendall
Triangle BackgroundCommunity Advocate of the Month: Dennis Vogel, Citizens State Bank, La Crosse
Community Advocate of the Month: Dan Klahn, Community First Bank, Boscobel
Community Advocate of the Month: Shane Ilstrup, Citizens First Bank, Viroqua
Community Advocate of the Month: David Schuelke, Spring Bank, Brookfield
Community Advocate of the Month: Ted Gerber, Community Bank, Grantsburg
Community Advocate Spotlight: Joe Peikert, Wolf River Community Bank, Hortonville
Triangle BackgroundCommunity Advocate of the Month: Michael Bock, Dairy State Bank, Rice Lake

Categories

  • Advocacy
  • Community
  • Compliance
  • Credit Unions
  • Education
  • Member News
  • News
  • Products
  • Resources
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • Nelson Celebrates 30 Years at National Exchange Bank & Trust
  • Bakalars to Retire
  • PWSB Mortgage Lenders Receive the Five Star Mortgage Professional Award
  • Executive Letter: Wisconsin Supreme Court Upholds Priority of Secured Creditor Under Receivership Rules
  • Peshtigo National Bank Announces Promotions

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • August 2016
WBA logo
  • About
  • Community
  • Subsidiaries
  • Staff

questions@wisbank.com

608-441-1200

4721 S Biltmore Ln.
Madison, WI 53718

Get our Newsletter!
Subscribe

© 2023 Wisconsin Bankers Association. All rights reserved. | Website Design by Bizzy Bizzy
Executive Letter: Bankers Helping Bankers Platform, New Benefit for WBA Mem...You’re Stronger Than You Might Realize
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OKLearn more×

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Terms of Use
Accept settingsHide notification only

Subscribe

* indicates required








Membership