Building Bell State’s Twin Cities Enterprise

Two years after Bell State Bank & Trust of Fargo, N.D., purchased Bell Mortgage, the bank is establishing a foothold in the Twin Cities marketplace under the direction of Todd D. Lee, executive vice president and Twin Cities managing director. Bell Mortgage is a 130-year-old mortgage company with 28 offices in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area..Lee left a career as an attorney to join Bell State Bank & Trust in January of 2012. His charge is to build a team that will significantly contribute to the $2.6 billion bank's growth. In May 2012, Bell State Bank & Trust opened its office in the Colonnade Building in Golden Valley, Minn., where Lee makes his office. It has become the bank's launching point for Twin Cities business..Working at Briggs and Morgan in Minneapolis, Lee called Mike Solberg when he heard about the Bell Mortgage acquisition. Solberg is president and chief operating officer of Bell State Bank & Trust; Lee met him years earlier when they were both students at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. Lee had built up a substantial practice serving the banking industry and wanted to know whether he might be able to offer anything to Bell State Bank & Trust. Lee and Solberg reconnected and they ended up refering business to one another.."At one point Mike asked me to explain what exactly I do," Lee recalled. "I told him I recruit people to the firm, develop business, provide leadership to my team and analyze credit risk. Mike responded 'that's what we need, why don't you come to work for me?'".The more Lee learned about Bell State Bank & Trust, the more clearly he saw that it was a fit. He said he liked the bank's organic growth strategy, and he liked the culture of the bank. "The culture of the bank is unlike anything I have experienced in terms of its values actually aligning with its actions. The culture is alive, not cynical," Lee said..The bank's bread and butter credit products are commercial loans ranging from $1 million to $15 million. He said as some of the traditional players in that market refocus on even bigger opportunities, fewer players remain in this middle-market space. He identified LaSalle Bank of Chicago and M&I Bank of Milwaukee as two traditional players who were acquired and now focus on bigger deals. Lee identified Bremer Banks, with charters in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota, as one of its leading competitors..Earlier this year, State Bankshares, Inc., the holding company for Bell State Bank & Trust, purchased The Business Bank in Minnetonka, Minn., a deal that is set to close Sept. 22. The Business Bank has a subsidiary called Prime Mortgage which has 15 offices in Minnesota and Florida. In 2012, Prime Mortgage did $1.3 billion in loan volume. Combined with Bell Mortgage's $1.6 billion in annual loan volume, State Bankshares will control the third-largest mortgage operation in the state..Mortgage loan officers help Bell State Bank & Trust's commercial lenders identify opportunities. Lee said about 13 percent of the $138 million in loans his office has generated came from mortgage business leads. "We are just beginning to make the most of the opportunities that come to light through our mortgage business," Lee said..Lee said a big part of his job is building his Twin Cities team. He said his best candidates have outstanding character, charisma, credit skills and a career horizon of 15 to 25 years.."I liked what I heard when I first considered joining Bell State Bank & Trust but now almost two years into it I am more excited than ever," Lee commented.