Stearns Bank Announces Retirement for Two Distinguished, Longstanding Directors

St. Cloud, Minn. (May 30, 2023) – Stearns Bank has announced the retirement of two distinguished, longtime members of its Board of Directors. Thomas “Tom” Williams will retire from the Stearns Bank N.A. Board of Directors, while Roger Voit has been named Stearns Bank Upsala N.A. Board Director Emeritus.

Tom Williams, retired CEO of Williams Dingmann Family Funeral Homes, joined the Stearns Bank N.A. Board of Directors more than 20 years ago, providing valuable insight and expert guidance and oversight for the bank.    

“Tom’s business expertise and personal dedication to Stearns Bank over the years has been vital to our success,” said Stearns Bank President & CEO Kelly Skalicky. “Tom has been instrumental in Stearns Bank attaining industry-leading high performance over the decades and the driving force of Stearns Bank’s increasing contributions to achieve significant, lasting community impact. We so appreciate Tom and he will be greatly missed by our Board and management team, but his contributions live on and will continue to contribute to our success tomorrow.”

Roger Voit joined Stearns Bank while finishing high school, 66 years ago, at the time when the bank was state-chartered and called First State Bank of Albany. Roger did it all, over his career – going from cleaning the bank to becoming Executive Vice President and manager of Stearns Bank’s Albany branch. Roger served at every level of the banks, and on the bank boards as well as the bank holding company Board. Roger’s leadership, work ethic, and determination to be the best is second to none. Roger lives by and embodies Stearns Bank’s core values, and he has been greatly admired as a revered role model for his entire career.

With hard work and a determination to maintain his learning journey, Roger has continued serving Stearns Bank, even past his retirement in 2014, after an impressive 57-year career. Along with enjoying extra time with family and friends, he has remained connected with the bank, serving as a Board member of the Holdingford and Upsala N.A. bank charters. The impact and contributions Roger has made to the local communities are second to none.

In honor of Roger’s nearly 67 years of service to Stearns Bank and his unparalleled contributions to our communities, Roger will retire and receive the designation of Director Emeritus as a member of the Board of Directors for Stearns Bank Upsala National Association. Roger will continue to serve on the Board of Directors for Stearns Bank Holdingford National Association.

“The level of loyalty and commitment Roger has had for Stearns Bank, its customers, and employee-owners, is astonishing,” Skalicky said. “He has been a part of our Stearns Bank journey from the very beginning – as a young cowboy-boot wearing, whipper snapper who got to know our customers like family to the seasoned banker who found a way to navigate the most challenging economic times, from the oil crisis in the ’70s and the farm crisis in the ’80s to, most recently, the Great Recession – Roger taught us all that the secret to success is simple but not many are willing to do it. Roger teaches us that you’ve got to roll up your sleeves, work around the clock if that’s what it takes to get the job done and use a whole lot of common sense to make sure you keep your priorities straight. Our Stearns Bank culture of success is built on Roger’s work ethic and determination.”

Skalicky added, “The Stearns Bank team is eternally grateful for Roger, and I deeply appreciate the wisdom and guidance he continues to provide me personally to this day.”

About Stearns Bank N.A.

Minnesota-based Stearns Bank National Association is a $2.2 billion, independently-owned financial institution with locations in Minnesota, Florida and Arizona, and over 35,000 small business customers nationwide, in every state across the U.S. Recognized as having a bullet-proof balance sheet with 25% capital and earning top rankings as one of the nation’s highest-performing banks by American Banker, and most recently ranked fourth in the U.S. among banks having more than $1 billion in assets by Independent Banker’s 2023 Best of the Best ranking of banks with the highest 3-year average Return on Assets, Stearns Bank is a fortress of strength specializing in nationwide commercial construction lending, USDA and SBA lending, and small business and equipment financing. Driven by a passion to help others achieve their greatest ambitions, Stearns Bank’s mission is to Get the Job Done! For more information, visit StearnsBank.com.