Longtime rural Minnesota banker promoted to president

Northwestern Financial Review, Mar 1-Mar 14, 2005

Timothy Ulrich has been elected president/chief operating officer at Citizens Bank & Trust Co., Hutchinson, Minn. T.A. "Buzz" Burich, most recently president of the $165 million bank, will continue on as chairman and chief executive officer.

Ulrich joined the bank in 1984 as an agriculture representative after obtaining a degree in agricultural business from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Prior to being named president, Ulrich had served the bank as executive vice president since 1998.

Ulrich is active in his west central Minnesota community as a member of the boards for the Hutchinson Community Foundation, the Hutchinson Area Chamber of Commerce, and Hands, Inc. He also is president of the Economic Development Authority of Hutchinson and a member of the Bank CEO Network. Ulrich has been a member of the Southwest Minnesota Business Finance Advisory Committee and the Hutchinson Jaycees. He also is a graduate of the Blandin Community Leadership Program.

* Robert O'Brien joins Winona, Minn.-based Merchants Bank as president of its new Lakeville, Minn., location. O'Brien brings more than 30 years of banking experience to his new position; most recently he was vice president at Bremer Bank in the Twin Cities. O'Brien has a bachelor's degree in elementary education from St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minn., and has degrees in finance and economics from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. He completed the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The bank anticipates an April 1 opening for its Lakeville location.

* Dan Raleigh was named president/CEO of Lake Elmo Bank, Lake Elmo, Minn. Raleigh assumes the duties from his father, Donald Raleigh. The elder will remain chairman of the bank's board of directors. Dan Raleigh has been with the bank for more than 12 years; he is a graduate of St. John's University, Collegeville, Minn. Raleigh also was named a 2004 North*Western Financial Review Rising Star.