Who is Frandsen Bank & Trust?

Frandsen Bank & Trust in Montgomery was originally founded in 1905 as Citizens State Bank. Frandsen Financial Corporation acquired the bank in 1997. The bank merged with the State Bank of Lonsdale in 1999, and was renamed Rural American Bank. In 2004, the bank was merged together with other Frandsen Bank & Trust offices in Dundas, Forest Lake, Foley, Lonsdale and New Ulm. Frandsen Bank & Trust is owned by Frandsen Financial Corporation (FFC), a nine-bank holding company in Forest Lake, Minn., that has $1.5 billion in assets and serves more than 80,000 customers, with banking locations in 28 communities throughout Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.

FFC was founded in 1982 with the acquisition of Fidelity State Bank in Luck, Wisc. Since then, the company has concentrated on operating high-quality community banks that provide a wide array of services to clients. FFC supports its community banks by providing data and item processing, accounting, regulatory reporting, auditing, human resources, policy management, and other services that allow bankers to provide excellent service to local customers and spend more time developing relationships with them. FFC also works with its banks to play a vital role within the communities they serve, and to utilize the resources of FFC to develop new commercial relationships.

FFC was founded by Dennis Frandsen, who grew up on a dairy farm outside of Luck, Wisc., and was the first in his family to finish high school, an accomplishment he achieved in 1951. While Dennis's entrepreneurial accomplishments over the years have been varied and spanned several industries, his vision for FFC and the other businesses he owns has always remained the same. It is a vision, he says, that was shaped by his own experiences as a young entrepreneur, when he was turned down by several local banks for the loan that he needed to launch Frandsen Lumber Company, his very first entrepreneurial venture. Since then, Dennis has focused relentlessly on building a network of community banks that enjoy the benefits associated with being part of a large organization with vast resources, but that retain the local decision-making and local control that are essential to meeting the needs of customers and business clients within the communities they serve.

Over the years, FFC has earned a reputation as a unique, innovative company that values honesty, fairness and accountability. Dennis Frandsen's unique management style holds senior managers and executives accountable but allows them the freedom to run their own businesses. That style has earned him recognition as one of the state's leading entrepreneurs, and a well-earned reputation for treating people right.