MBA chair looking to spark member growth, legislative gains

Erin Procko was named 2026-27 chair of the Minnesota Bankers Association in June during the association’s Annual Summit in Duluth. Procko, Twin Cities regional president for Fargo, N.D.-based Bell Bank, has a number of legislative topics to address in the coming year, but one goal she has is ensuring the next generation of bankers feels welcome leading the industry in the years ahead..Procko hopes to help more bankers become involved with MBA during her year as chair by increasing attendance at the one-day MBA Bankers Conference as well as the Women’s, Technology and Compliance conferences.Procko’s vision for growth mirrors her own progression with the association. She took education courses through MBA a couple decades ago, joining its Board of Directors in 2021. She has since been on the planning committee for the association’s Annual Summit and Women in Banking conference.Procko supports the Minnesota Bankers Association for its focus on educating and staying connected with bankers, along with its advocacy. “It’s the combination of those three things,” Procko said. “Banking’s a small community, so staying connected to other bankers and sharing best practices has been a good thing for all of us in community banking.”Procko has attended the association’s Washington, D.C., Capitol trip on an annual basis, as she knows the importance of elected officials hearing directly from banking industry leaders.The MBA also hosts the annual Bank Day at the Capitol in St. Paul. “Making sure we are getting our voice heard and having an impact with our elected officials to know a lot of things,” Procko said. “They are relying on groups like ours to be out there representing the industry.”Part of Procko’s motivation to lead comes from her experience being guided by a strong mentor who would sit with her and answer her questions. “He taught me how to analyze cash flow,” she said. “He brought me to customer meetings. He took me out prospecting. He answered questions. He took the time to teach me. More importantly, he gave me the opportunities that accelerated my career faster than I could have done on my own.”Originally a chemical engineering student at the University of Minnesota, Procko became attracted to banking while finishing college as she enjoyed numbers and solving problems, and realized she could also work with people.A graduate of the University of Minnesota, Procko then joined Highland Bank in St. Paul, focusing on commercial banking and SBA lending. She volunteered with local nonprofits, looking over business plans and financial analysis projections for beginning small business owners. She saw her work with a nonprofit centering on female entrepreneurs as especially rewarding.A key player in Bell’s 2012 entrance into the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, Procko was hired as vice president of commercial lending. She was soon tasked with opening a new location in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington and expanding into her hometown of Duluth. Procko eventually managed the entire market, from initially handling only her own commercial portfolio.Procko has also always been attracted to family-owned banks, as they generally adopt a longer-term approach without the earnings pressure of being publicly-traded. She also sees a connection through Bell working with many family-owned businesses.“I like the impact we can make in the communities,” Procko said. “We get a front row seat to what’s going on in Main Street businesses as well as families and households. We get to see our impact.”Procko considers herself to be a “servant-leader” both at the bank and MBA. As the bank’s first female market president in its 60-year history, she oversees Bell’s Twin Cities and Duluth commercial, real estate, community and private banking operations consisting of more than $4.4 billion in assets. She also directs company-wide treasury management and SBA lending for the $14 billion bank.“It’s all about the teams,” Procko said. “It’s all about making sure the team is successful. I am very much a team-focused leader, so we do better when we work well together. ... It is all about the people for me in leadership and making an impact, helping people grow and being able to give opportunities and help people get to the next level in their careers.”Procko has earned the respect of her board peers and the nominating committee during her time on the board, said MBA President/CEO Joe Witt. He knows Procko can adeptly combine her industry experience with her MBA board participation. For example, she provided the board with first-hand examples of how Section 1071— a requirement for banks to collect and report dozens of data points on small business lending applications—would have harmed their banks. On May 1, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a revised Section 1071 rule with simplified data collection requirements.“When they let me know that she had accepted [a board leadership position], I was really pleased,” he said.Top-of-mind to Procko on the legislative front is ensuring the elimination of the perceived loophole in the GENIUS Act that allows affiliated crypto exchanges and third-party partners to offer yield-like customer loyalty programs, incentives or rewards. The loophole, she explained, increased the risk of deposits leaving community banks, thereby reducing lending.Procko is cautiously optimistic the provision will be closed, after she attended the MBA’s annual Capitol Summit earlier this year. During that time in Washington, D.C., the MBA met with federal lawmakers and regulatory agencies.“It seemed like there was a lot of interest in that, but it’s hard to say what is going to get passed,” Procko said. “The crypto lobby is very strong in D.C. right now.”Another top issue Procko sees is the increasingly-sophisticated fraud landscape. The Minnesota Bankers Association has sought shared liability for telephone companies and social media companies for detecting and eliminating fraudulent ads and activity, as it often originates on the phone or online. Banks invest heavily in prevention and detection, and support the SCAM Act, which requires online platforms to do the same.“A lot of times when the fraud is happening, the banks are the last line of defense,” Procko said. “Where we might have someone saying, ‘send this wire, send this money,’ and it is often too late. The person’s convinced that they are sending the money to someone they know, but it is a scam.”