ABOVE: Profinium employees and leaders stand outside the building as they celebrate their 150th anniversary. Front row, from leftL Becca Knaak, Laura Koch, Sofia Solorzano, Ian Bents, Dawn Owen, Valerie Hill, Josie Frank, Isaac Wallace, Amber Tonne. Middle row, from left: Mandy Bahr, Stacey Johnson, Tanya Tadlock, Morgan Garry, Savannah Myren, Matt Klusmeier, Karla Sauck, Kristina Jorgensen, Lisa Rank, Hayden Solberg, Kyle Hardie. Back row, from left: Jenna House, Erin Berkness, Erica Berhow, Taylor Nawrocki, Shawn Hochstein, Cindi Tomlinson, Ken Craig, Sherri Roforth, Lia Pytleski, Jackie Mattson.

FAIRMONT – Having started in 1875 as Martin County National Bank (MCNB), Profinium is celebrating 150 years of service to the Fairmont community.

Martin County National Bank received its charter January 1, 1875, and was founded by Albert Ward. Chief Marketing Officer Karen Legault said goals for the bank at the time and goals for Profinium now share similarities.

“They always wanted to support smaller businesses in the community,” she said. “That’s always been that focus, which is why we’re proud to still have that focus today. They believed from the get-go what we still believe today, helping that community thrive and have a purpose to what they’re doing. The products have always changed over the years, and obviously looked much different back then.”

In addition to small businesses, Chief Banking Officer Ian Bents said Profinium is rooted in Agriculture.

“We were founded in an Ag community and an Ag region of southern Minnesota,” he said. “Dating back to the 1870s, the initial transactions of Martin County National Bank were really designed to serve the earlier settlers. That’s where the Ag economy really was starting to boom in Martin County. It started on Ag focused, more on livestock, land and the earlier supplies.”

For over 100 years, MCNB remained as one bank. It moved into its current location at 105 Lake Avenue in 1991, just a block away from its original location. The first major change came on Oct. 24, 2003, when MCNB merged with the People’s State Bank of Truman to form Profinium Financial. Since then, two more Profinium locations have opened in Owatonna on Oct.18, 2005, and Mankato on July 13, 2013.

Growing in such a relatively small piece of the bank’s overall history, Chief Executive Officer Joel Staehling said it has been a purposeful part of their strategy.

“If you want to grow, you have to also grow into communities that are growing,” he said. “The bank has always been growth-oriented. When you grow, you also are trying to diversify your risk and credit portfolio as well. In Mankato and Owatonna, there’s a little bit more commercial business for the bank. We viewed that as a growth area for us to diversify our portfolio and manage our risk that way.”

Today, Bents said they are a one-stop shop and pride themselves on being a community bank.

“We have our ear close to the ground in terms of understanding what our community needs,” he said. “We have a robust technology platform that allows us to operate like any larger bank that you can find across the country. The thing that makes us unique is we are still a community bank. Whether we’re going to someone’s front door at their home, or we will come in on weekends, stay late, come in early, and be able to take care of all of our clients’ needs on their terms.”

By reaching 150 years, Staehling said there are multiple factors that have contributed to their current position.

“It speaks to enduring values over a very long period of time,” he said. “I think it speaks to visionary leadership over a long period of time, and, most importantly, an unwavering dedication to our communities.”

With 150 years having started January 1, Legault said they have been finding unique ways to celebrate while also doing good.

“Our team right now actually has an internal challenge of doing 150 acts of kindness before our October employee event,” she said. “It’s a fun internal thing where they’re all rallying around that 150 acts of kindness. Everybody, each of us is charged with doing about five acts of kindness, which is pretty easy for us, considering how community-oriented we are.”

Looking forward, Staehling said they are currently looking at potential options for further expansion.

“Today we’re $525 million, and we have aspirations to become bigger, yet keep that community feel,” he said. “The way it works in banking is, banking is a very scalable business. There are certain costs associated with it, buildings and employees, and those things. You can become more efficient if you become bigger.”