Bell Bank

Bell Bank was founded as State Bank of Fargo in 1966[8] as a single location in the Northport Shopping Center in Fargo.[9] Thomas "Buck" Snortland was one of the company's founders.[10]

In 2003, the bank bought Northern Capital Trust, a trust company and flex spending adjudication business.[11] Richard Solberg, who was then the bank's president and CEO, had served on the board of directors for Northern Capital Trust since the company was established—16 years before the merger.[12]

Not long after the merger, Bell created a spin-off company called Discovery Benefits, which administers flexible benefits, COBRA and health savings accounts.[13] Bell also started HealthcareBank, one of the largest health care savings account banks and a client of Discovery Benefits.[14] In 2019, State Bankshares announced plans to sell Discovery Benefits for $425 million to Wex Inc., a South Portland, Maine-based payment processing and business solutions provider. In 2021, Bell and WEX agreed to WEX's acquisition of certain HSA assets of HealthcareBank.[15]

In 2011, the company acquired Minneapolis-based Bell Mortgage, expanding its reach into the Twin Cities and Phoenix, Ariz.[16] The company changed its name from State Bank & Trust to Bell State Bank & Trust in 2012[17] and to Bell Bank in Aug., 2016.[18] In 2013, Bell acquired Minneapolis-based The Business Bank and its Prime Mortgage Division.[19] Bell Bank Mortgage expanded its offices into Wisconsin and New Mexico in 2018,[20][21] Florida, Missouri and Tennessee in 2019,[22][23] and Kansas in 2020.[24]

Bell launched an equipment finance division in Minneapolis in 2018, to serve the manufacturing, transportation, construction and agriculture industries.[25]

In 2019, Bell signed a purchase agreement to buy Warner and Company Insurance in Fargo, Schiller Insurance in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, and Thompson-Schaefer Insurance Agency in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and rebranded them as Bell Insurance.[26]

Bell Bank opened its Chandler, Ariz., branch in January, 2019.

Bell opened its first full-service bank branch in Arizona—in the city of Chandler, Arizona—in 2019,[27] and its second in Phoenix – Biltmore in 2020.[28]

In 2020, Bell expanded into Forest Lake, Minn.,[29] and Duluth, Minn., renovating and occupying the downtown Temple Opera Building.[30]

In 2021, Bell opened a branch in downtown Minneapolis' City Center[31] and announced its entrance into the Denver market.[32] Bell also announce its purchase of a 12-story building at 520 Main Ave. in downtown Fargo, which will be remodeled in 2022 and reopen in 2023 as Bell's new headquarters.[33] The same year, Bell entered a 10-year naming rights partnership with Legacy Sports USA and Oak View Group for Bell Bank Park, a 320-acre, multipurpose sports and entertainment complex in Mesa, Ariz.[34]

In 2022, Bell finalized its building lease for a new mortgage servicing center in Owensboro, Ky.[35] Bell also opened its first loan production office in Denver, focused on commercial lending,[36] and launched Bell Business Credit, a specialty lending team providing asset-based lending and factoring services for working capital intensive companies.[37]

Bell has a 5-star rating from Bauer Financial, an independent bank research firm. Based on financial data from federal regulators, a 5-star rating, the highest rating the firm awards, means a bank is financially sound and is operating well above its capital requirements.[38]

The company plans to remain privately owned.[39]

Bell Bank President and CEO Michael Solberg speaks to employees.

Michael Solberg is Bell Bank's president, and the third CEO in the company's history.[40] He was named CEO in 2014, succeeding his father, Richard Solberg, who had been CEO since 1982.[41]

Michael Solberg was named chief operating officer in 2004 and president in 2009.[42] He started with the company in 1998 after graduating from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and William Mitchell College of Law in Saint Paul, Minnesota.[43] He grew up in Finley, North Dakota, and Fargo.[44]

Richard Solberg is the board chairman and a company shareholder.[45] The bank is owned by about 70 shareholders, with a majority stake held by the families of Richard Solberg, Michael Solberg, Julie Snortland and Laura Snortland Fairfield.[46] Other major shareholders have included Thomas "Buck" Snortland[47] and his son, Thomas "Mickey" Snortland, both farmers from Sharon, North Dakota.[48]

Thomas "Mickey" Snortland, who was also a longtime director of the bank, died in 2013 of an apparent heart attack.[49]

Before working for what was then State Bank of Fargo, Richard Solberg was president of Citizens State Bank in Finley, where he grew up. He also graduated from Concordia College.[50] Under Richard Solberg's leadership, the bank grew from a single location with $28 million in assets to 20 branches in North Dakota and Minnesota with more than $3 billion in assets.[51] In 2022, Richard Solberg received the Legacy Leader Award from the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce [52]

NorthWestern Financial Review named Richard and Michael Solberg Bankers of the Year in 2012.[53]

Additional executive leadership includes: Patrick Chaffee, EVP/banking, wealth management & insurance,[54] Todd Lee, EVP/banking & commercial lending administration,[55] Laine Brantner, EVP/chief operating officer, Julie Peterson Klein, EVP/chief of staff and chief culture officer,[56] Tony Weick, EVP/Bell Bank Mortgage president,[57] Lynn Johnson, EVP/retail banking,[58] Jon Aarsvold, EVP/chief credit officer, [59] Jenny Senecal, EVP/deputy chief credit officer[60] Jena Cogswell, EVP/chief marketing officer,[61] Tim Gelinske, EVP/strategic initiatives and partnerships,[62] Blake Nelson, EVP/chief financial officer,[63] Gary Inman, EVP/information systems manager, and Jesse Schwab, EVP/chief risk officer.[64]

Several media outlets, including USA Today, People magazine and the BBC have written stories about Bell Bank's culture.[65] Bell's mission statement is Happy Employees! Happy Customers![66] Michael Solberg says the bank's growth and profits are due to the way the company treats its employees.[67] In 2016, Bell announced it would make an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) part of employees' retirement benefits.[68] A portion of each employee's retirement funds will be invested in State Bankshares stock.[69]

Bell has formed partnerships with athletes and other celebrities with North Dakota and Minnesota ties. Some of them work with Bell on charitable causes.[87] They include:

• Larry Fitzgerald Jr., philanthropist and former NFL player[88]
• Josh Duhamel, American actor and former fashion model[89]
• Ben Johnson (basketball), college basketball coach[90]
• Marney Gellner, Minnesota sports broadcaster[91]
• Matt Cullen, retired American NHL player[92]
• Ben Leber, retired Minnesota Vikings linebacker and sports radio personality[93]
• Gavin Kaysen, James Beard Award-winning chef, who owns three Minneapolis restaurants[94]
• Mark Tarbell, chef, restaurateur, wine columnist, Iron Chef America winner and two-time inductee into the Arizona Hall of Culinary Fame[95]
• Lindsay Whalen, University of Minnesota women's basketball coach and former Minnesota Lynx women's basketball player[96]
• Tyus Jones, American professional basketball player[97]
• Chris Hawkey, country music artist and sports radio personality[98]
• The Blenders, Minneapolis-based vocal quartet[99]
• Amy Olson, American professional golfer[100]
• Tom Hoge, American professional golfer[101]
• Branden Scheel, American triathlete[102]
• Minnesota United FC, an American professional soccer club based in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area[103]