Bell Bank

Bell Bank

Type	Privately Held Company
Industry	Banking, Financial services, Mortgage, Insurance
Founded	1966; 56 years ago (1966)
Headquarters	Fargo, North Dakota , U.S.
Key people	Richard Solberg, Board Chairman| Michael Solberg, President & CEO| Blake Nelson, EVP/Chief Financial Officer|Laine Brantner, EVP/chief operating officer| Julie Peterson Klein, EVP/Chief Culture Officer| Patrick Chaffee, EVP/Banking & Wealth Management| Todd Lee, EVP/Banking & Commercial Lending Administration| Tony Weick, EVP/Bell Bank Mortgage President| Jesse Schwab, EVP/chief risk officer
Number of employees	1,500
Website	https://bell.bank/

Bell Bank is an independently owned bank based in Fargo, North Dakota

Bell Bank is a privately owned interstate bank headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota,^[1] with assets of more than $10 billion.^[2] Bell Bank, which employs more than 1,500 people^[3] (more than 560 in the Twin Cities region^[4]) has banking locations in North Dakota, Minnesota and Arizona,^[5] insurance locations in North Dakota and Minnesota, and mortgage locations in North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin,^[6] New Mexico,^[7] Florida,^[8] Missouri, Tennessee and Arizona.^[9] State Bankshares is Bell Bank's parent company.^[10]

History and growth[]

Bell Bank was founded as State Bank of Fargo in 1966^[11] as a single location in the Northport Shopping Center in Fargo.^[12] Thomas "Buck" Snortland was one of the company's founders.^[13]

In 2003, the bank bought Northern Capital Trust, a trust company and flex spending adjudication business.^[14] 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.^[15]

Not long after the merger, Bell created a spin-off company called Discovery Benefits, which administers flexible benefits, COBRA and health savings accounts.^[16] It is now one of the largest privately owned third-party administrators in the country, and has been ranked among the fastest-growing health savings account administrators.^[17] Bell also started HealthcareBank, one of the largest health care savings account banks and a client of Discovery Benefits.^[18] In January 2019, State Bankshares announced plans to sell Discovery Benefits for $425 million to Wex Inc., a South Portland, Maine-based payment processing and business solutions provider.^[19] In 2021, Bell and WEX agreed to WEX's acquisition of certain HSA assets of HealthcareBank. WEX agreed to pay cash consideration of approximately $250 million to Bell.^[20]

In 2011, the company acquired Minneapolis-based Bell Mortgage, expanding its reach into the Twin Cities and Phoenix, Ariz.^[21] The company changed its name from State Bank & Trust to Bell State Bank & Trust in 2012^[22] and to Bell Bank in August, 2016.^[23] In 2013, Bell acquired Minneapolis-based The Business Bank and its Prime Mortgage Division.^[24] Bell Bank Mortgage expanded its offices into Wisconsin and New Mexico in 2018,^[25][26] Florida, Missouri and Tennessee in 2019,^[27][28] and Kansas in 2020.^[29]

Bell launched an equipment finance division in Minneapolis in 2018, to serve the manufacturing, transportation, construction and agriculture industries.^[30]

In January 2019, Bell signed a purchase agreement to buy Warner and Company Insurance in Fargo, Schiller Insurance in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, and Thompson-Schaefer Insurance Agency in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and rebranded them as Bell Insurance.^[31]

Bell Bank opened its Chandler, Ariz., branch in January, 2019.

Bell opened its first full-service bank branch in Arizona—in the city of Chandler, Arizona—in January 2019,^[32] and its second in Phoenix – Biltmore in 2020.^[33]

In 2020, Bell expanded into Forest Lake, Minn.,^[34] and Duluth, Minn., renovating and occupying the downtown Temple Opera Building.^[35]

In 2021, Bell opened a branch in downtown Minneapolis' City Center^[36] and announced its entrance into the Denver market.^[37] Bell also announce its purchase of a 12-story building at 520 Main Ave. in Fargo, which will be remodeled in 2022 and reopen in 2023 as Bell's new headquarters.^[38]

In September 2021, Bell entered a 10-year naming rights partnership with Legacy Sports USA and Oak View Group for Bell Bank Park, a 320-acre, multipurpose sports and entertainment complex in Mesa, Ariz., planned to open in 2022.^[39]

Bell has a 5-star rating from Bauer Financial, an independent bank research firm. Based on financial data from federal regulators, a 5-star rating, the highest rating the firm awards, means a bank is financially sound and is operating well above its capital requirements.^[40]

The company plans to remain privately owned.^[41]

Leadership[]

Bell Bank President and CEO Michael Solberg speaks to employees.

Michael Solberg is Bell Bank's president, and the third CEO in the company's 50-year history.^[42] He was named CEO in 2014, succeeding his father, Richard Solberg, who had been CEO since 1982.^[43]

Michael Solberg was named chief operating officer in 2004^[44] and president in 2009.^[45] He started with the company in 1998 after graduating from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and William Mitchell College of Law in Saint Paul, Minnesota.^[46] He grew up in Finley, North Dakota, and Fargo.^[47]

Richard Solberg is the board chairman and a company shareholder.^[48] 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.^[49] Other major shareholders have included Thomas "Buck" Snortland^[50] and his son, Thomas "Mickey" Snortland, both farmers from Sharon, North Dakota.^[51]

Thomas "Mickey" Snortland, who was also a longtime director of the bank, died in 2013 of an apparent heart attack.^[52]

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.^[53] 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.^[54]

NorthWestern Financial Review named Richard and Michael Solberg Bankers of the Year in 2012.^[55]

Additional executive leadership includes: Blake Nelson, EVP/chief financial officer,^[56] Laine Brantner, EVP/chief operating officer, Julie Peterson Klein, EVP/chief culture officer,^[57] Patrick Chaffee, EVP/banking and wealth management,^[58] Todd Lee, EVP/banking and commercial lending administration,^[59] Tony Weick, EVP/Bell Bank Mortgage president,^[60] and Jesse Schwab, EVP/chief risk officer.^[61]

Company culture[]

Several media outlets, including USA Today, People magazine and the BBC have written stories about Bell Bank's culture.^[62] Bell's mission statement is Happy Employees! Happy Customers!^[63] Michael Solberg says the bank's growth and profits are due to the way the company treats its employees.^[64] In November 2016, Bell Bank announced that it would make an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) part of its employees' retirement benefits.^[65] A portion of each employee's retirement funds will be invested in State Bankshares stock.^[66]

Awards received by Bell Bank[]

Bell Bank has been recognized with multiple awards.

Bell was named to People magazine's list of 100 Companies That Care in 2021.^[67]

Forbes ranked Bell among the World's Best Banks and Best-in-State bank for North Dakota in 2020.^[68] In 2019, Forbes ranked Bell among the World's Best Banks and second in U.S.-only banks.^[69] In 2018, Forbes named Bell Best Bank in North Dakota and Minnesota.^[70]

American Banker Magazine has named Bell to its Best Banks to Work For list in 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013.^[71]

Star Tribune Media Co. named Bell the No. 2 large workplace and top banking workplace in Minnesota in 2021^[72] and has included Bell on the StarTribune's Top Workplaces list every year since 2011.^[73] In 2016, the media company also recognized Bell with an ethics award.^[74]

Fortune magazine named Bell on its list of the Best Workplaces in Financial Services & Insurance in 2019, 2020 and 2021.^[75] In 2021, Fortune also named Bell on its list of the 100 Best Workplaces for Millennials in the U.S. and the country's 100 Best Workplaces for Women.^[76]

Pay It Forward program[]

Part of Bell Bank's culture is its Pay It Forward program, which Michael Solberg started in 2007.^[77] The program gives full-time employees $1,000 and part-time employees $500 each year to give to people and organizations in need,^[78] Julie Peterson Klein heads the Pay It Forward program.^[79]

Sponsorships and endorsements[]

Bell has formed partnerships with athletes and other celebrities with North Dakota and Minnesota ties. Some of them work with Bell on charitable causes.^[80] They include:

• Josh Duhamel, American actor and former fashion model^[81]
• Matt Cullen, retired American NHL player^[82]
• Ben Leber, retired Minnesota Vikings linebacker and sports radio personality^[83]
• Gavin Kaysen, James Beard Award-winning chef, who owns three Minneapolis restaurants^[84]
• Lindsay Whalen, University of Minnesota women's basketball coach and former Minnesota Lynx women's basketball player^[85]
• Tyus Jones, American professional basketball player^[86]
• Chris Hawkey, country music artist and sports radio personality^[87]
• The Blenders, Minneapolis-based vocal quartet^[88]
• Amy Olson, American professional golfer^[89]
• Tom Hoge, American professional golfer^[90]
• Branden Scheel, American triathlete^[91]
• Minnesota United FC, an American professional soccer club based in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area^[92]

References[]