July 18, 2024
Star Bank announces the semi-retirement of Harry Wahlquist, the bank’s Founder and President/CEO. Effective July 18th, Harry Wahlquist will continue serving Star Bank as Chairman of the Board and as CEO. Katie Wahlquist has been elected to serve as President & Chief Strategy Officer and will succeed Harry Wahlquist from an organizational leadership perspective. A retirement celebration for Harry will be announced at a later date.
Star Bank is pleased to announce additional promotions at the C-Suite level. Andy Wahlquist will serve as EVP/Chief Operations Officer. Matt Geist will serve as EVP/Chief Financial Officer. Andy Guse will serve as EVP/Chief Credit Officer.
Harry Wahlquist states, “It has been a true honor and privilege to serve as President/CEO of Star Bank since I founded the company in 1990. As I enter this new phase of life and semi-retirement, I plan to spend more time with my family and friends while continuing to mentor our incredible leadership team here at Star Bank.”
Harry Wahlquist has been a dedicated entrepreneur and a driving force in the community banking industry since 1960. His banking career started in August 1960 at Northwestern National Bank in Minneapolis. After six months, he was invited to join the credit department training program which taught bankers about credit and lending relationships and trained leaders on how a financial institution functions from behind the scenes. Harry was elected an Officer of Northwestern National Bank in 1964 (the youngest ever at the time) and was charged with the responsibility of overseeing the relationship between the downtown location and its eight local NWNB affiliates, i.e. sister banks (branch offices). In November 1969, Harry was asked to lead the Credit division of the Correspondent Banking Department as a Vice President with responsibilities for its $50MM loan portfolio. Harry’s customers were small town banks throughout the 9th and part of the 7th Federal Reserve Districts in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, both Dakotas and Montana. This exposure to small town/rural America and witnessing the small town bankers’ dedication and commitment to their communities gave rise to Harry’s future career thoughts. These thoughts were amplified in 1976 when he was elected a Senior Vice President (youngest ever, again) and asked to manage the entire Correspondent Banking Department and its 1,200 small bank customers.
Fast forward to 1987 when the Ag crisis in the mid-1980s gave rise to a very troubled banking environment and may have been the prime contributor to the decisions made by both NW Bancorp (now Wells Fargo) and 1st Bank System (now US Bank) to abandon their rural offices except for regional centers, selling them to the highest bidder. With the sales, their community support disappeared and the new owners did not see fit, in many instances, to replace it. Recognizing the facts at hand coupled with his affinity and respect for rural communities, Harry commenced to formalize a plan to enter the community banking space.
In 1990, Harry established a holding company for the purpose of acquiring the First National Bank of Bertha-Verndale. Since that time, Star Bank has experienced significant growth. Through various acquisitions and new branch openings, Star Bank now operates 11 office locations. This includes the acquisition of Citizens State Bank of Barrett (1995); the acquisition of the Elbow Lake and Wheaton offices of Metropolitan Federal Savings & Loan (1995); First State Bank of Graceville (1995); the merger of charters and name change to Star Bank in 2000; acquisition of the Eagle Bend office of Lake Country State Bank of Long Prairie (2001); a loan production office in Annandale (2004); the opening of de novo branches in Annandale (2005) and Eden Prairie (2010); the acquisition of the Maple Lake office of the First National Bank of Elk River (2012); and most recently the acquisition of the Hancock office of Community Development Bank (2024). Currently, Star Bank has $430MM in assets under management.
In addition to leading Star Bank since 1990, Harry has been involved in executive volunteer roles with BankIn Minnesota (formerly the Independent Community Bankers of Minnesota), the Bank Holding Company Association, and the Independent Community Bankers of America. He has also served on the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross Minnesota & Dakotas region as a 2nd generation American Red Cross volunteer and is considered a “Lifetime Member.”