People on the move

Thomas Gronstal and Becki Drahota have joined the board of directors of Bank Midwest, Spirit Lake, Iowa..Gronstal was Superintendent of Banking for the State of Iowa from 2002 to 2010. He was president of the Carroll County State Bank prior to his appointment. Gronstal currently serves on the board of directors for Carroll County State Bank and its affiliates. .Gronstal has been Mayor of Carroll and is a past president of the Iowa Bankers Association and past chairman of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. Gronstal is a graduate of Benedictine College, Atchison, Kan..Drahota is the owner and president of Mills Financial Marketing in Storm Lake, an integrated marketing resource for financial institutions. She founded the company, which currently serves banks in 22 states, in 1975 at the age of 25. .Drahota is a graduate of Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa and the University of Nebraska-Omaha where she obtained an executive MBA degree..Drahota was 2007 Iowa Small Business Person of the Year. She also is a member of the Buena Vista University Board of Trustees. .Jay Hammond has been named president of Highland Bank, St. Paul, Minn. Hammond will be responsible for implementing strategic initiatives; growing the organization and building value by motivating, managing and leading staff through example and participation. He joins the bank with nearly 30 years of community banking experience..Before joining Highland Bank, Hammond was with Anchor Bank, a Twin Cities community bank, for 11 years — most recently as director of business banking where he had oversight of two market presidents. Hammond has a master's of business administration degree from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn..Casey O. Regan has been named president, CEO and director of Premier Bank Minnesota effective March 1. Regan succeeds President and CEO G. Jack Hillstrom, who continues on the board and as director of special projects..Regan joined Premier Banks in 2002 in the summer internship program and became a full-time employee upon graduation from the University of St Thomas in 2004. In the ensuing years, he has been a management trainee, loan officer and manager. In January 2007, he was appointed Premier Bank Hastings president. In October 2010, he was promoted to the presidency of the south area of Premier Bank Minnesota..Premier Bank, St. Paul, Minn., announced these appointments: Barb Coleman has been promoted to assistant vice president and deposit operations supervisor, Rebecca Gustafson has been promoted to vice president and BSA/resolutions officer, Martha Kaufenberg has been promoted to branch operations manager in White Bear Lake, Minn., and Vince Reis has been promoted to assistant vice president and network administrator. .Also, the bank announced Jo Ann Caron has assumed the role of branch manager in Faribault, Minn., Bridgette Hallcock has assumed the branch manager position at Northfield, Minn., and Steven Burow has been named vice president and commercial loan officer for the Northfield and Faribault offices..Greg Mulder has been named president of KleinBank in Montevideo, Minn. Mulder has more than 15 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to becoming office president in Montevideo, he served as vice president of agricultural and business banking at KleinBank Montevideo. In his new position, Mulder reports to Greg Monson, KleinBank's western Minnesota market president..Mulder has a bachelor's of science degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. He has also completed numerous banking programs including the Midwest Banking Institute and Commercial Lending School..Tracy Peterson and Brent Walz have been named senior vice presidents/business bankers by State Bank & Trust, Fargo, N.D. They will work in the bank's first full-service Twin Cities location beginning this spring. The office is in Golden Valley..Walz is a graduate of the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, and the Graduate School of Banking-Colorado. He has more than 10 years of experience in finance and has held commercial lending and leadership positions at Wells Fargo and Anchor Bank..Peterson, also a graduate of the University of North Dakota, has 21 years of experience in banking and served as president of State Bank & Trust's Minnesota lakes area banks before moving to Minneapolis..Jeremy Johnson has joined Starion Financial, Bismarck, N.D., as a vice president, marketing and communications manager. His responsibilities will include oversight of advertising, public relations, internal communications, event planning and product development. Johnson brings more than 10 years of sales and marketing experience to Starion Financial. He previously was director of admissions and marketing at Minnesota State University Moorhead. In that position, he led the university's admissions activities and oversaw its marketing, communications and branding efforts..Johnson has a master's of business administration degree from North Dakota State University, Fargo, as well as a bachelor's of science degree in marketing and a bachelor's of arts degree in economics from Minnesota State University Moorhead.