2013 Outstanding Women in Banking: Kim Schroll

When Kim Schroll joined the founding team of NebraskaLand National Bank and became its senior operations officer, she took on an enormous task. It was 1998 and the North Platte, Neb., bank had no charter, branches, technology nor marketing plan. Her job was to build all that from scratch..Then age 29, Schroll left her job at Western Nebraska National Bank, North Platte, to take her place on the ground floor of a new community bank. Banking had always been a part of her life. Her grandfather and mother both were bankers. Now Schroll is being recognized as a 2013 NorthWestern Financial Review Outstanding Woman in Banking..Throughout high school and college, Schroll was a bookkeeper and proof operator at First National Bank of O'Neill. She worked there until graduating from Northeast College, Norfolk, Neb., with an associate's degree in computer programming in 1991. She then joined North Platte National Bank..Her computer programming degree allowed her to move throughout the bank working as a bookkeeper, teller, loan clerk and computer coordinator. By the time Mike Jacobson became the bank's president in 1994, Schroll was assistant cashier. "When I met Kim, I was immediately impressed. She was bright but she also had an incredible work ethic," he said..In 1995, North Platte National Bank's branch network was confined to three locations in North Platte. The bank merged with another bank to become Western Nebraska National Bank. Jacobson was tasked with expanding the bank to six neighboring towns. He opened two offices in Bridgeport, Neb., and Alliance, Neb., with four more towns to follow. The increased strain proved too much for the bank's cashier as she worked to expand the financial reporting, staff, cash management and technology systems of the bank. The bank needed a new cashier.."I still remember calling Kim into my office," Jacobson reminisced. "She was 24 and had been the assistant cashier for a year. I told her I was going to hire a new cashier unless she had something to say about it. She immediately said she wanted the job. She didn't want time to think about it.".Out of the gate, Jacobson said he wasn't convinced Schroll could do the job. "Did she ever prove me wrong," he exclaimed..With the exception of Sunday mornings, Jacobson and Schroll worked seven days a week to open the new offices. Over the following three years, they and their team grew what started as an $82 million bank into a $215 million bank with nine locations..Then in 1998, after Jacobson had led a team to build Western Nebraska National Bank, he decided it was time to do it again with a bank of his own. He knew he would need a strong supporting staff. "I needed Kim," he noted..So, when Jacobson invited Schroll to join him in starting a new bank, her answer was as straight forward as three years earlier. Schroll invested her retirement savings for an ownership stake in the bank and joined a heavy-hitting, five-banker team consisting of Sally Gentleman, another banker from Western Nebraska National Bank; C.G. "Kelly" Holthus, owner and president of Cornerstone Bank, York, Neb.; and Harley Bergmeyer, chairman, president and CEO of Saline State Bank in Wilber, Neb..In five months, Schroll and Jacobson finished the charter process. The bank opened for business with five employees and $3 million in capital..In charge of the new bank's marketing, human resources, operations and technology, Schroll again entered a period of intense work, helping the bank to open four de novo branches in three years..The highest expectation of the five founders was to grow the bank to $45 million. With Schroll's help, the bank did it in three years. And the bank didn't stop there. In 2000, Schroll and Jacobson put together a local investor group and bought out Holthus's and Bergmeyer's interests in the bank; the purchase also increased the founders' stake in the bank. From the original five shareholders the bank has added 115..The bank also has grown its assets to more than $500 million. Now with 79 employees, it has seven branches in Nebraska and one in Wyoming. Every branch was a de novo..Schroll says she's grateful to the people who've worked with her along the way. "It started with the five of us, but we are not the sole reason the bank is successful today. Without the support of the people who came on board, we couldn't have done it," said Schroll, who was the first women to graduate from the Nebraska Bankers Association's two-year leadership program in 1998.Other 2013 Outstanding Women in Banking honorees include:Lori Allan, Beacon Bank, Duluth, Minn.Emily Hofer, Merchants State Bank, Freeman, S.D.Rose Wageman, First Eagle Bank, ChicagoDawn Zimmer, Bank Midwest, Spirit Lake, Iowa