Page 266 - BWM March 2013

266 | Business World Magazine | March 2013
Minnesota in order to establish what he de-
scribed as the great inland empire. And af-
ter taking over all the banks in Minnesota,
the corporation would move on to capture
the same throughout the Dakotas and Wy-
oming. To be sure, this wasn’t mere boast-
ing, but a very loud public expression of the
company’s strategy to wield power over the
economic infrastructure and it had the ca-
pacity to act exactly as it claimed it would.
The independent bankers, as well as the cus-
tomers they served, could sense the danger
on the horizon and to such a degree, they
amassed and sought help to create a law that
would prevent the large bank from assum-
ing such control. Unfortunately, when these
independent professionals approached their
contacts with the American Bankers Asso-
ciation, help was denied. The same negative
response would later come from the Minne-
sota Bankers Association. Northwest Bank
Organization was a well-positioned member
of both bank associations, so neither was
about to threaten their relationship by sup-
porting the concerns of these smaller insti-
tutions. As there were no policies in place
to prevent the large bank from taking over,
the composite of community bankers deter-
Camden Fine President/CEO Speaking at the ICBA Conference