Stearns Bank Bolsters Leadership Team, Hires Amber Gerstung as First-Ever Chief Deposit Officer

St. Cloud, MN (January 14, 2025) – Today, Stearns Bank announced that Amber Gerstung has joined the organization as its first-ever Chief Deposit Officer. Gerstung will oversee all aspects of Stearns Bank’s deposit strategies, including deposit growth, deposit product development, deposit pricing, deposit sales and service, data analytics, and physical branch management. She will serve as a key member of the Stearns Bank leadership team—driving deposit product innovation and delivering exceptional customer experience nationwide.

“Amber’s diverse background, industry expertise, and unique skill sets will help Stearns Bank to strengthen its personal relationships with our more than 35,000 customers across the country,” said Kelly Skalicky, President & CEO of Stearns Bank. “Stearns Bank has grown into one of the nation’s top-performing banks, and as we position ourselves for the next stage of our growth journey, we’re excited that Amber will play a pivotal role in implementing short and long-term strategies that drive our national market and deposit account expansions.”

In the newly created Chief Deposit Officer position, Gerstung will focus on delivering personalized service, customized deposit solutions, and an integrated deposit account experience for Stearns Bank’s commercial, small business, and consumer deposit account customers. She will report to Heather Plumski, EVP, Chief Financial and Strategy Officer, and lead more than 80 employees responsible for deposit-related activities at Stearns Bank. Moreover, Gerstung and her team will oversee and manage all of Stearns Bank’s physical branch locations in Minnesota, Arizona, and Florida, to ensure a customers have an exceptional in-person banking experience.

“I am thrilled to join a team dedicated to redefining financial services through innovation and customer-centric solutions. Stearns has an incredible history, superior customer service and a commitment to reaching underserved markets which gives us the unique opportunity to deliver meaningful impact while driving sustainable growth,” said Gerstung. “I look forward to leveraging my experience to enhance our deposit offering and deepen relationships with our valued customers and the communities we serve.”

Amber Gerstung has more than 23 years of experience in the banking and financial services sector, driving sales and revenue growth while enhancing client experience. Most recently, she was Senior Managing Director and Head of Embedded Payments at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), where she led the core SVB team responsible for managing, launching, and commercializing cutting-edge solutions for customers in the bank’s Innovation Economy portfolio. At SVB, she also held senior roles in Sales Strategy, Treasury Management Sales Leadership, Card Services, and Merchant Sales and Account Management. Prior to SVB, she spent nearly a decade at Wells Fargo, serving as SVP, Treasury Management Consultant, where she provided companies of all sizes with the solutions to overcome visibility, risk and resource constraints in the Treasury and Cash Management departments. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Minnesota and will be based in Minneapolis.

To learn more about the innovative and industry-leading deposit products and solutions available at Stearns Bank, please visit: www.StearnsBank.com.

About Stearns Bank N.A.

Minnesota-based Stearns Bank National Association is a $3.2 billion, independently-owned financial institution with locations in Minnesota, Florida and Arizona, and over 35,000 small business customers nationwide. Recognized as having a bullet-proof balance sheet with 17% capital and earning top rankings as one of the nation’s highest-performing banks by American Banker, and most recently ranked eighth in the U.S. among banks having more than $1 billion in assets by Independent Banker’s 2024 Best of the Best ranking of banks with the highest 3-year average Return on Assets, Stearns Bank specializes in nationwide commercial construction lending, USDA and SBA lending, and small business and equipment financing. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. For more information, visit StearnsBank.com.

Media Contact
Armando Diaz
Armando.Diaz@StearnsBank.com
C: 561-729-6091