Type Privately held company | Number of employees 1,000 | |
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Industry Banking, Financial services Founded 1966; 51 years ago (1966) Headquarters Fargo, North Dakota, U.S. Key people Michael Solberg, President & CEO
Richard Solberg, Board Chairman | ||
Bell Bank is among the 25 largest independently owned banks in the United States and is the largest privately owned bank in the Upper Midwest with assets of more than $4 billion. Through its wealth management division, the company manages more than $5 billion in assets. Bell Bank, which employs 1,000 people, is headquartered in Fargo, N.D. It has 20 locations in North Dakota and Minnesota and does business in all 50 states. State Bankshares is Bell Bank's parent company.
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History and growth
Bell Bank was founded as State Bank of Fargo in 1966 as a single location in the Northport Shopping Center in Fargo. Thomas "Buck" Snortland was one of the company's founders.
In 2003, the bank bought Northern Capital Trust, a trust company and flex spending adjudication business. Richard Solberg, who was then the bank's president and CEO, had served on the board of directors for Northern Capital Trust since the company was established – 16 years before the merger.
Not long after the merger, Bell Bank created a spin-off company called Discovery Benefits, which administers flex benefits and health savings accounts. It is now one of the largest privately-owned third-party administrators in the country and employs nearly 600 people. Bell Bank also started Healthcare Bank, one of the largest health care savings account banks and a client of Discovery Benefits.
In 2011, the company acquired Minneapolis-based Bell Mortgage, expanding its reach into the Twin Cities and Phoenix, Ariz. The company changed its name from State Bank & Trust to Bell State Bank & Trust in 2012 and to Bell Bank in August, 2016.
In 2013, Bell Bank acquired Minneapolis-based The Business Bank and its Prime Mortgage Division.
In addition to 20 full-service banking locations, Bell Bank has trust offices in Fargo and Bismarck, N.D., and Boise, Idaho, with Bell Mortgage offices in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and Phoenix.
The company plans to remain privately owned.
Leadership
Michael Solberg is Bell Bank's president, and the third CEO in the company's 50-year history. He was named CEO in 2014, succeeding his father, Richard Solberg, who had been CEO since 1982.
Michael Solberg was named chief operating officer in 2004 and president in 2009. He started with the company in 1998 after graduating from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., and William Mitchell College of Law in Saint Paul, Minn. He grew up in Finley, N.D., and Fargo.
Richard Solberg is the board chairman and a company shareholder. The bank is owned by about 70 shareholders, with a majority stake held by the families of Richard Solberg, Michael Solberg, Julie Snortland and Laura Snortland Fairfield. Other major shareholders have included Thomas "Buck" Snortland and his son, Thomas "Mickey" Snortland, both farmers from Sharon, N.D.
Thomas "Mickey" Snortland, who was also a longtime director of the bank, died in 2013 of an apparent heart attack.
Before working for what was then State Bank of Fargo, Richard Solberg was president of Citizens State Bank in Finley, where he grew up. He also graduated from Concordia College. Under Richard Solberg's leadership, the bank grew from a single location with $28 million in assets to 20 branches in North Dakota and Minnesota with more than $3 billion in assets.
NorthWestern Financial Review named Richard and Michael Solberg Bankers of the Year in 2012.
Company culture
Michael Solberg says the bank's growth and profits are due to the way the company treats its employees. Bell Bank's mission statement is Happy Employees! Happy Customers! Thomas "Buck" Snortland was a major player in establishing the company's culture of putting employees and customers first.
American Banker Magazine and Best Companies Group named Bell Bank to its Best Banks to Work For list every year since starting the national ranking in 2013. Bell ranked third overall and first among banks with assets of $3 billion to $10 billion in 2016. To calculate their rankings, American Banker and Best Companies Group survey employees and review employer benefits and policies.Star Tribune Media Co. named Bell Bank to its "Top Workplaces" list in 2015 and 2016. The same year, the media company also recognized the bank with a special award for ethics because of the company's culture.
Bell Bank also hosts events for employees, like baseball nights, picnics and Christmas parties. The bank recognizes employees for doing something nice for someone else through a program called "How Bell of You!" And each year, Bell Bank gives employees a $200 gift card and a day off to spend with a friend or family member.
Several media outlets, including USA Today, People magazine and the BBC have written stories about Bell Bank's culture.
In November 2016, Bell Bank announced that it would make an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)]] part of its employees’ retirement benefits. A portion of each employee's retirement funds will be invested in State Bankshares stock. Bell Bank expects the ESOP to grow to nearly 10 percent ownership in about 10 years.
Pay It Forward Program
Part of the culture is the bank's Pay It Forward program, which Michael Solberg started in 2007, inspired by Oprah Winfrey's "Pay It Forward" project. The program gives full-time employees $1,000 and part-time employees $500 each year to give to people and organizations in need. Employees are also given $1,000 to give to a customer, vendor or community member to donate to someone else. The program has given out more than $8 million.
After launching the program, Michael Solberg appeared on a number of news outlets to talk about it, including Good Morning America, CBS's The Early Show, Fox News and CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.