An important message from Stearns Bank CEO, Kelly Skalicky: 

Earlier this year, I had the honor of being appointed to the Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council empaneled by Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis led by President and CEO, Neel Kashkari. This appointment carries deep personal meaning. Over 60 years ago, in their early 30s, my parents stepped into ownership at Stearns Bank with a fierce belief in the power of community banking. What they helped build through grit, vision, and an unwavering commitment to shared prosperity has stood the test of time over six decades of fluctuating economic conditions. Now, serving on this Council, I have an incredible opportunity to carry on their legacy to advocate for banks like ours, and more importantly, for the communities we serve.

It’s not lost on me that this appointment comes during yet another chapter of economic instability—one that Stearns Bank has successfully weathered before. From the Great Depression to the 2008 financial crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic, our institution has endured not just by surviving and staying solvent, but by stepping up for our customers and communities when it matters most. As an employee-owned organization committed to shared prosperity, our customers are our first and top priority. We know first-hand that when we help our customers and communities successfully sustain and prosper through difficult economic times, our employees and company do too.

If you had asked me what role I might play on a Federal Reserve Advisory Council, the words “clear-eyed” or “triage” would not have come to mind. But, after hundreds of discussions with customers and our team members, what I’ve come away with is people are overwhelmed and worried about their financial future and their communities. Our customers, employees and communities are searching for ways to make sense of the noise and flood of news that threatens many aspects of their daily lives. They are looking for institutions and leaders to address their concerns with clarity and triage solutions with urgency to prioritize decisive actions.

At a time when income and wealth inequality remain one of our greatest collective challenges, we must acknowledge that the price of inequality is not sustainable. Stearns Bank has successfully developed a shared prosperity model over the last 40 years. Built upon investing in the success and prosperity of our customers to ensure our communities flourish and thrive, with purpose and intentionality. That’s why we continue to grow and increase our employee ownership, offer employee salaries and benefits that far exceed the market, and optimize profit-sharing that has achieved extraordinary generational wealth over decades.

With the increasing severity of income and wealth inequality dominating the headlines, the societal, political, and economic landscapes are shifting, and my role—and our role as a bank—must meet the moment as we’ve done in the past. That means bringing clarity in confusion, seeing beyond the headlines to assess future shifts, identify potential financial risks to our customers, and build solutions that protect their financial futures.

From the ever-shifting tariff policies to the relentless attacks against the CFPB and the consumer protections it upholds to recent geopolitical unrest—seismic shifts are underway. And while many of these shifts may feel abstract, the immediate impact and resulting ripple effects are real for people. At the heart of it, these shifts impact two things that everyone deserves control over: your money, and your power.

For us at Stearns Bank, this is not new. Designing innovative financial services tailored to benefit our customers in challenging economic conditions has always been at the core of who we are. We’ve stood strong throughout our history not because of our size, but because of our soul. Today is no different.

That’s why I’m proud to introduce our new initiative: Your Money. Your Power.

“Your Money. Your Power.” puts you in charge of your money and future. We will provide practical tools, insights, and resources with actionable options to help people navigate today’s ever-changing landscapes and make informed decisions to protect their financial futures and build the financial legacies only they control.

It’s about stepping up to clarify and prioritize challenges for customers and design real solutions, when others are absent or staying silent. In fact, you’ve already seen some of our new customer-centric offerings: we eliminated and waived overdraft fees despite a federal ruling that permits higher overdraft fees, because consumers need relief now. We eliminated ATM fees last year so customers have free access to ATMs anywhere. To bolster nonprofits nationwide and the communities they serve, we designed our Nonprofit Banking Solutions tailored to meet the unique banking needs of nonprofits.

Our commitment to shared prosperity is also nothing new. Shared prosperity is at the core of who we are, it is in our soul. We are mission driven, and our purpose is to create an ecosystem of shared prosperity: when our customers are successful and prosper, our communities thrive and so do we. We’ve always uplifted and empowered communities to reach their full economic potential by focusing on direct investments that yield real results. Last year, we provided $1B in financing to small businesses, invested $88M in community-led investments, and completed 3,800 staff volunteer hours to financial education, among other people-first investments that you can read about in our 2024 Annual Report.

This is what it looks like to lead with soul.

So today, I challenge my peers—fellow CEOs, banking leaders, and business owners. What’s the soul of your company? Are you and your company committed to shared prosperity? How much company profit is enough and how much more can you share to lift others? Can you do more to create an ecosystem of shared prosperity where you invest in your customers’ prosperity and devote time and resources to ensure your communities are thriving? How are you uplifting the people and communities that serve you? How are you stepping up to give them more control over their money and their power to empower agency and financial freedom?

These are unusual times. They call for leadership that’s just as uncommon.

They call for Business Unusual.