Cameron Becker, Todd Christoffer, and Terry Fitzke Elected to SDBA Board of Directors

The South Dakota Bankers Association (SDBA), the professional and trade association for South Dakota’s financial services industry, recently held elections for three of the 10 seats on its Board of Directors. Elected to serve on the SDBA Board of Directors were:

Cameron Becker, President and Chief Credit Officer, Rivers Edge Bank, Marion
Todd Christoffer, Chief Credit Officer and South Dakota Division President, First National Bank, Rapid City
Terry Fitzke, Chief Lending Officer, BankWest, Pierre

This is Becker, Christoffer, and Fitzke’s first term on the SDBA Board of Directors. They started their three-year terms on May 1, 2023.

Cameron Becker:

Cameron Becker began his banking career in 2002 and is currently the President and Chief Credit Officer at Rivers Edge Bank. Cam also serves on the bank’s Board of Directors and the Bank Holding Companies Board of Directors. He is a graduate of the University of South Dakota and the Graduate School of Banking-Colorado.

Cam was born and raised in Marion and has been involved in many areas of the Marion community.

Becker enjoys hunting, boating, fishing, and spending time with his wife, Jennifer, and two children, Paige and Vaun.

His goals as an SDBA Director are to become more educated and more engaged in the advocacy of the banking industry at both the state and federal levels.

Todd Christoffer:

Todd Christoffer is the Chief Credit Officer and South Dakota Division President of First National Bank. He began his career with First National Bank in 1987 as a teller and returned in 2001 as the branch president of the bank’s Rapid City location. In his current role, Todd oversees the bank’s $1.1B loan program, including commercial, agricultural, consumer and residential lending, as well as operations of its 16 branches and over 130 employees. He currently serves on the bank’s Board of Directors, Executive Management Committee, Regional Loan Committee, and ALCO. He has also served on the SDBA legislative committee for the past 2 years. First National Bank has consistently been a top performing bank in South Dakota as well as nationally. Todd has led several major initiatives to streamline operations, increase consistency in review and underwriting processes, reduce regulatory risk and achieve operating efficiencies. He played an integral role in expanding the bank’s footprint into Northern Colorado by managing the due diligence and conversion of a bank acquisition. Todd is a graduate of the University of South Dakota’s School of Business as well as ABA’s Commercial Lending and Compliance schools.

As a 22-year resident of Rapid City, Todd has been very active in local organizations serving on the boards of the Black Hills Community Economic Development, Junior Achievement and Elevate Rapid City as well as other community organizations and non-profits.

Todd and his wife, Brandi (LeBeau) Christoffer have 3 adult children. Their oldest son Tristan (25) is a Sergeant in the US Army and resides in Fort Bragg, NC; their daughter Taryn (21) will graduate from SDSU school of nursing in the Fall, and their youngest son Ty (18) just graduated from Rapid City Stevens HS and is enlisting in the Army Rangers OSUT training in Fort Benning, GA later this year. In addition to their children, they have two German Shorthaired Pointers that are part of the family.

Christoffer’s goals as a director are to continue to serve as an advocate for the banking industry in South Dakota by working with the State’s elected officials on legislation that effects banking, promoting the health and safety of South Dakota’s banks to the public, and support our vendors development of innovative products and services that are competitive with non-bank financial service companies.

Terry Fitzke:

Terry Fitzke is currently the Chief Lending Officer for BankWest, Inc. and is based in Pierre, SD. He has served in this role since 2021. Prior to becoming the CLO, Terry was a Regional President for BankWest for 17 years. As Regional President, Terry was responsible for the banking functions at multiple locations in central South Dakota. During this tenure, he managed eleven direct reports with a total staff of up to fifty. As Chief Lending Officer, Terry’s responsibilities include working with Executive Management, providing leadership and overall direction in Business Banking activities including agricultural lending. Daily involvement with the business banking/production aspect as well as working to assure consistency in process and customer service across the various production lines.

Currently, Terry serves on the Avera Health Pooled Investment Committee and the Avera Health Investment Committee. Terry was recently the Avera St. Mary’s Healthcare Center’s Board Chairman for five years and a board member for eleven years.

Terry lives in Pierre and is married to Amy. Together, they have a blended family of five children: Tanner (Jamie), Travis (Sydney), Sadie (Allen), Kortney (Eric), Kelsey (Tanner). Terry and Amy also have eight grandchildren.

Fitzke plans to work in cooperation with fellow board members to assure that the focus of the association stays on the current path to promote the general welfare of and usefulness of South Dakota banking institutions. South Dakota Bankers Association’s priority is the success of its membership by providing advocacy, education, communications, networking, and products and services. Terry will continue to support this plan as he works to support the member banks in South Dakota and specifically those in Group IV.

Early-Bird Registration Deadline Extended for the 2023 Annual Convention!

The early-bird registration rates for the 2023 SDBA/NDBA Annual Convention have been EXTENDED until Wednesday, May 24.

From the Badlands to the Great Plains to the Missouri River, it’s no secret that the Dakotas are connected in many ways – including our respective bankers’ associations. In 1993, the SDBA hosted the first SDBA/NDBA joint convention in Rapid City, SD. Join us in Sioux Falls as we celebrate 30 years of partnership – travelling through challenges, navigating obstacles, and driving change. And we will continue to work together to move our banks, our communities, and our industry forward as we answer the question, “Where to NEXT?”

WHAT: Where to NEXT?
SDBA/NDBA Annual Convention
WHEN: June 4-6, 2023
WHERE: Sioux Falls Convention Center, Sioux Falls, SD

Visit the convention website to view the full agenda and to register.

Hotel information is available by clicking here.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us at [email protected] or call 605.224.1653.

2023 SDBA Ag Credit Conference Registration Now Open

The South Dakota Bankers Association will present the 2023 Agricultural Credit Conference on July 19-20 in Pierre, S.D. This conference focuses on the unique needs of ag bankers and the desire for quality information and training to better serve their customers. Attendees will benefit from a day and a half of presentations from nationally recognized speakers, network with more than 125 banking peers and meet several exhibitors who offer products and services geared toward ag banking. New or experienced ag lenders, as well as CEOs, will all benefit from this conference.

For more information or to register, click here.

Submit Your Photos for a Chance to be Featured in the 2024 SDBA Calendar

The South Dakota Bankers Association is creating a customized calendar from photographs of South Dakota submitted by South Dakota bankers, their family members and customers. These calendars are exclusive to SDBA member banks and make a great gift for your customers!
If you are an amateur photographer and would like the opportunity to have your creativity displayed in homes and businesses across South Dakota, this is your chance! Send us your photos of farms, barns, agricultural activities, historical South Dakota locations, county fairs, carnivals, parades or festivals, fall colors, winter snowfalls, spring flowers, or summer fun. Any photo that shows the history and beauty of the great state of South Dakota qualifies.

To submit your photos, go to www.sdba.com/scenes-of-south-dakota-calendar. Submission deadline is July 31, 2023. All photos submitted will be judged and the top photos will be featured throughout the 2024 Scenes of South Dakota calendar.

Questions, email [email protected] or contact Haley Juhnke at 605.224.1653.

Upcoming Heart Screening Events to be Held in Sturgis, Spearfish, and Winner

Sanford Health has planned several local heart and vascular screenings in Sturgis, Spearfish, and Winner. During the heart screening event you can have your heart, veins, and arteries checked for signs of heart disease and vascular disease. If you are interested in scheduling an appointment, please call 605-312-2150. *When calling to schedule, be sure to mention that you are an SDBA member on the Health Plan. Walk-ins are also welcome.

Sturgis
Location: Sturgis Ambulance
Address: 1901 Ballpark, Sturgis, SD
Date: May 22-23, 2023
Hours: May 22 (11-7) May 23 (8-4)

Spearfish
Location: Spearfish Ambulance
Address: 715 E. Colorado Blvd, Spearfish, SD
Date: May 23-24, 2023
Hours: May 24 (8-5), May 25 (8-4:30)

Winner
Location: Winner Regional Healthcare Center
Address: 845 E 8^th St, Winner, SD
Date: June 2, 2023
Hours: 8:00-5:00

Regulators, CEOs Testify in Hearings on Bank Failures

Federal banking regulators today testified before the House Financial Services Committee during the first of five congressional hearings this week on the recent bank failures, where they were pressed on why supervisors did not elevate concerns raised about Silicon Valley Bank ahead of its closure. In addition, former top executives from SVB and Signature Bank testified before the Senate Banking Committee on the failures.

The Federal Reserve last month released a report faulting SVB’s management for its failure but also identifying instances in which agency supervisors failed to elevate problems they found at the bank. More recently, Fed Governor Michelle Bowman suggested that the agency should appoint a third party to conduct an independent review of the Fed’s handling of SVB. Asked whether he agreed with that recommendation, Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision Michael Barr suggested that third-party review is coming through congressional oversight and reviews by the Office of Inspector General and Government Accountability Office. “I think there are such reviews going on already,” he said.

Barr was also asked why the Fed was exploring stronger capital rules if he believed banks were well-capitalized—something he has said repeatedly. “The capital in the system is strong—it might need to be the case that it is stronger, and the banking system might need more capital to be resilient precisely because we don’t know the nature of the kinds of ways we might experience shocks to the system, as has happened with these recent bank failures,” Barr said.

In the Senate, former SVB CEO Greg Becker faulted “unprecedented” interest rate increases and a social media-fueled bank run for the failure of his institution. “I never imagined that these unprecedented events could happen to SVB and strongly believe that the leadership team and I made the best decisions we could with the facts, forecasts and outside expert advice available to us at the time, and that we made these decisions in good faith and in the best interests of SVB, its employees and its clients,” Becker said.

View the article here.

CISA News: Artificial Intelligence Concerns

Artificial Intelligence may be the “most powerful weapon of our time”. The ‘godfather of AI’ has concerns.

View the full article here.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Q: If a customer calls and asks about our current rates do we need to include a statement of “annual percentage yield” along with the rate?

A: In any oral response to a consumer inquiry on deposit rates Regulation DD requires that you state the annual percentage yield. The interest rate may be stated in addition to the annual percentage yield:

"(e) Oral response to inquiries. In an oral response to a consumer's inquiry about interest rates payable on its accounts, the depository institution shall state the annual percentage yield. The interest rate may be stated in addition to the annual percentage yield. No other rate may be stated."

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/policy-compliance/rulemaking/regulations/1030/3/#e

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