2014 Rising Stars in Banking: Katy Wolf Bode

Tom Wolf, owner and president of Platte Valley Bank, North Bend, Neb., knows he is fortunate. He will never have to ask: Will the next generation of the family come home to help run the bank? Katy Wolf Bode, Wolf's daughter and the fourth generation of the family to own the bank, has come home. She now works to share the responsibility of leading the $73 million bank with the aim of one day sitting in the president's office..NorthWestern Financial Review is honoring Wolf Bode as a Rising Star in Banking for 2014, along with five other bankers..Wolf Bode began her career in search of adventure in the big city. A graduate of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, she decided to take her degree in accounting and move to Chicago. Wolf Bode started in an entry level job at SmithBucklin, an association management and services company. By 2005, she was a manager in the company's accounting department. "When she'd come home those six years, she would say how much she wanted to mow the lawn and see some grass," Wolf said. "You can take the girl out of the small town, but you can't take the small town out of the girl.".Wolf Bode never intended to stay away forever. "I enjoyed working in the accounting world in Chicago but I always wanted to come back and do banking," she said. "Then, in 2005, I got engaged; we were both from Nebraska. Neither of us wanted to raise a family in Chicago.".When Wolf Bode returned, the first job she got was at Platte Valley Bank. She started as an assistant vice president and helped open new accounts, IRAs and certificates of deposit. Now, she helps run the bank's operations, finance, compliance and technology. When Wolf formed Platte Valley Bancorp, Inc., in 2009, Wolf Bode took on the financial reporting for the company..In 2007, Wolf Bode decided it was time to bring the bank online. "We had nearly nothing in terms of an internet presence when I came to the bank," she said. "It was going to be a pricey project no matter what.".Wolf Bode spearheaded the bidding process. Through the peer network available to her as a member of the Nebraska Bankers Association, Wolf Bode learned that a few other banks had used Digital Insights, a California-based website design firm..When she later contracted the company, she negotiated small changes to bring the price down. "We had planned to build the website and add bill-pay services later. I learned that if we did it that way, it would cost more," she said. "We put the bill-pay project together with the website and got a lower price.".As the project progressed, Wolf Bode instructed Digital Insights on the website's layout and organization. "We also had to pull together literally every single word that would appear on the website," she said. "That in itself was no small task.".When the website launched, half the bank's customers signed up for online banking; another third of them are signed up for online statements. "The internet is easier and cheaper," Wolf Bode said. "Before we had customers calling the bank frequently about checks coming in, balances and money transfers. When you look at the internal efficiencies we gained by giving customers an internet option for their questions and banking, it was well worth it.".For Wolf Bode's father, having her on the website project was a career saver. "She has prolonged my banking career," he said. "We talk about something and she takes the bull by the horns. She can do things with spreadsheets and computers that I never thought possible.".If she hadn't stepped up, the project would have been left to her father. "When you look at the breadth of what she does here, she has taken over almost 50 percent of my responsibilities," Wolf said..Freed from tasks like compliance and finance, Wolf has been able to funnel his energies toward growing his franchise. In the time Wolf Bode has been with her family's bank, it has grown by more than $26 million in assets. "Ag has had some good years since she came home," Wolf said. "With her taking projects like the website, I have been able to focus on the lending side more. I can maintain day-to-day contact with our customers.."There are not that many family banks left out there," Wolf continued. "Many of them are not there anymore because of generational changes. I feel very proud and grateful that Katy wanted to become the fourth generation of the family to manage and to own the bank. The bank was founded in 1891; our family has been here since 1910.."Katy has an ability and energy that never ceases to amaze," said Wolf, who soon turns 70. "I foresee her becoming president before very long."Other 2014 Rising Stars in Banking honorees include:Daron Van Beek, The First National Bank, Sioux Falls, S.D.Laura Pomerene, First National Bank and Trust Co., Beloit, Wis.Brian L. Johnson, Choice Financial, Grand Forks, N.D.John Welle, Minnwest Bank Metro, Eagan, Minn.Dusten Johnson, Northeast Bank, Minneapolis