Minnwest Bank and Security State Bank of Lewiston announced today the signing of an agreement to merge. Completion of the transaction, which is currently expected to occur in the third quarter of 2018, is contingent upon regulatory approval. Security State Bank of Lewiston had consolidated assets of $67.2 million and $61 million in deposits, as of December 31, 2017.
Douglas Karsky, president of Minnwest Bank, stated, “Minnwest Bank is dedicated to the growth and prosperity of agricultural communities and with this merger, we are confident that we can provide a strong financial network for the Security State Bank of Lewiston customers. Through this process, our ultimate goal is to make this transition as smooth and as transparent as possible to customers.”
Minnwest Bank is a family owned bank with 24 branches in 19 communities throughout Minnesota and South Dakota, with $1.6 billion in assets. Minnwest Bank is a preferred SBA lender and participates in State and Federal loan programs such as SBA, FSA, Farmer Mac, Rural Finance Authority and South Dakota Dept. of Agriculture. Minnwest Bank is one of Minnesota’s largest agricultural lenders.
“The current owners of the Security State Bank of Lewiston, the Fischer family, have built a similar community banking model as Minnwest Bank and both banks are family owned. When this opportunity arose, it made sense for all parties involved to make this merger happen. We are excited about the opportunity to serve these new communities, and continue to build on the foundation established by the Fischer family,” said Karsky.
“Our family has been involved in providing financial services to the Lewiston community for more than 80 years and to Wykoff and Spring Valley for over 25 years,” said Mary Fischer Lindell, Vice President of The Fischer Corporation. “It has been both a privilege and honor to serve these communities as they have grown and prospered. As with many other industries, the significant changes in regulatory compliance and the expansion of information technology issues make it extremely difficult for smaller community banks to provide the products and services required by our customers. After careful consideration of Minnwest as a merger partner, we chose to move forward as we believe their dedication to serving agricultural-related communities is well aligned with the current services we provide. We are confident that our customers will continue to be valued and receive the treatment and services they have grown to trust from Security State Bank.”
Visit Minnwest Bank at www.minnwestbank.com.