Overview
Bank of Montana, located in Missoula, Montana, is the culmination of the systematic and planned evolution of Montana Business Capital Corporation (MBC) into a traditional retail bank. MBC, a commercial loan and deposit production and underwriting firm founded in 1998, provided a wide range of loan and deposit-related services for both banks and small-to-medium sized businesses in Missoula and neighboring counties. For banks, MBC served as an additional resource by engaging in loan and deposit-related services including every facet of the loan and deposit relationship process: placing loan participations; interest rate-risk analysis; loan pricing; loan production; assessing deposit needs; facilitating the origination of various deposit accounts and services; handling loan files; preparation of loan documentation using the participating bank’s forms; ordering and reviewing title policies; reviewing appraisals; closing loans; and facilitating the opening of deposit accounts. In this capacity, MBC helped meet the excess demand in the marketplace for small-to-medium sized business loans.
Through its operations, the MBC team developed and refined expertise in a variety of loan and deposit products and underwriting procedures and services, while establishing a statewide reputation for proficiency using government enhanced loan products such as the Montana Board of Investments (MBOI) Commercial Loan Program. MBC’s success and contribution to the Montana economy was demonstrated through its ability to originate more than $200,000,000 in loans and linked to the creation of more than 2,000 jobs in Montana. While servicing these markets, MBC also provided the vehicle for its founder and CEO, Thomas R. Swenson, to develop a strong team with requisite and market-specific core competencies, expand his own and his team’s strong professional business and banking industry network, and establish the foundation on which the de novo bank, Bank of Montana, was built. Bank of Montana was formed as an S-Corporation and a State of Montana chartered bank in order to offer traditional retail banking services to the general market and more specialized services for small-to-medium sized businesses with loan and deposit needs.
Bank of Montana operates as a traditional retail bank. It distinguishes itself from the competition by leveraging its core competencies and experience in working with small-to-medium sized businesses to provide more specialized services through its proven ability to utilize government-enhanced loan products and advanced commercial lending and deposit products and services for its customers. Bank of Montana also utilizes government-enhanced loan products to have a greater impact on the economy by using non-bank funds, to fund a significant percentage of Bank of Montana’s total loan production. This brokerage component of Bank of Montana’s business model allows Bank of Montana to fully employ its staff and resources and makes Bank of Montana unique in this region. MBC provided funding strategies and packages employing funding opportunities from the likes of Montana Board of Investments and SBA, Small Business Association.
Key Accomplishments
Bank of Montana was ranked 16th in the 100 top-performing banks of 2015 below $1 Billion in assets in the S&P Global Market Intelligence ranking, published by SNL Financial. Out of those top 16 banks – Bank of Montana had the highest ROAA, ROAE, and lowest Taxes Ratio and non-performing assets.
Bank of Montana closed one of its largest loans yet of $30,000,000 to an international industrial leader with a significant facility in Montana. This was also Montana Board of Investments’ largest loan ever in its approximate 40-year history as a $16 billion pension fund.