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.
By Rose Oswald Poels