Nicolet National Bank to open in competitive Green Bay market

Northwestern Financial Review, Aug 5, 2000 by Olmsted, Monte

The home of the Green Bay Packers will get its newest bank this fall thanks to two former Associated Banc-Corp commercial loan executives, along with a number of organizers who include the wife of a local football icon.

The leaders of Nicolet National Bank filed organizing papers with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in Washington, D.C., on May 31. They plan to raise $15 million, said Bob Atwell, a 13-year veteran of Green Bay-based Associated who will serve as the new bank's president and CEO.

Atwell and Mike Daniels are the prime movers behind the new bank, which may open as soon as Nov. 1.

"We looked at the future and felt there was a great opportunity and a great need for a new full-service bank in the market," the 42-year-old Atwell said.

Atwell and Daniels-the new bank's executive vice president and senior lending officer-are experienced commercial lenders from Associated Bank in Green Bay. Before leaving Associated, Atwell served as executive vice president and senior lending officer.

A 13-year-banking veteran, Daniels was the senior vice president and group manager of Associated's commercial banking department. The 36-year-old Daniels spent most of his career at Associated but in the early 1990s, helped turn around a troubled bank, Effingham Bank & Trust, in Rincon, Ga.

Another key member of Nicolet National Bank's team will be chief financial officer Jacqui Engebus, another Associated Bank veteran.

Atwell has no criticisms of his former employer, which he described as "a fine institution." His reason for leaving had more to do with a personal challenge and desire to get back to basics, plus at $2.2 billion, Associated was just getting too big.

"My strength is more in community banking, and Associated has grown a lot," said Atwell. "I am more effective and enjoy banking when it's a little closer to the customer. For us, this has been a people-to-people business. As a bank grows, it's hard to maintain an environment that supports that delivery process."

The bank will have plenty of competition in Green Bay.

The city of 96,000 already is home to two 1990s start-up banks: the $54 million Capital Bank, formed in 1993, and the $52 million Bay Bank, which opened in 1995. Associated Bank dominates the market, but other institutions also have major presences. They include the $1.2 billion M&I Bank Northeast; the $668 million Baylake Bank of Sturgeon Bay; Bank One, Wisconsin; Firstar Bank, and the $866 million First Northern Savings Bank.

The new bank takes its name from famous French voyageur Jean Nicolet, who arrived on the shores of Green Bay in 1634 in search of furs and the Northwest Passage. The name has strong recognition in the region, a place that also has the Nicolet National Forest.

As a full-service financial institution, Nicolet National Bank will lease a 7,200-square-foot ground-floor office in downtown Green Bay and has plans to open a branch within two years. Its focus will be on commercial lending with a retail customer base of small- to medium-sized businesses that require greater credit needs, Atwell said.

Nicolet National Bank plans to start with 21 employees, a number some would consider high. "Our plan is clearly for high growth," said Atwell. "We have networked with other banks that started up, and the successful ones said the same thing: 'If we had known we would be as successful as we have been, we would have been better prepared from a staffing point of view.' "

Besides Atwell and Daniels, Nicolet National Bank has 10 other organizers. A number of them are local business owners who include Philip Hendrickson, president of Krueger International, a Green Bay manufacturer of office furniture. Hendrickson also was a former director of Associated Bank. Another high profile organizer is Deanna Favre, wife of Green Bay Packers All-Pro quarterback Brett Favre. "It's a name that gets people's attention," Atwell conceded.

Of the $15 million being raised, the 12 organizers will account for $5.5 million, Atwell said. The group is offering 1.5 million shares of common stock at $10 per share. The stock offering will be closed by the end of September.

Building a strong team for a new bank is necessary and will benefit customers, who will remain the center of attention, Atwell said.

"When you get up in the morning, you focus by asking, 'How can I make the customer better off with us? And, how can I make the community a better place to live?' If you do those two things, that's how you create value for shareholders. And if you deliver value, customers will deliver loyalty, and they don't mind you making money," Atwell said.

By Monte Olmsted