American Federal’s participation in the Minnesota Housing Program was acknowledged at a Lender Appreciation Award Presentation April 17 in Fergus Falls.

The Fix-up Fund is a statewide program that offers affordable, low-interest fixed rate home improvement loans.

Each year, since 1967, the student agricultural organization has recognized an individual who has made outstanding achievements in the agribusiness sector. The recipient is honored at a banquet and his or her name is engraved on a plaque displayed in the NDSU Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics. Bohnsack was honored Friday, April 27 at a banquet at NDSU’s Alumni Center.

Bohnsack was recognized for his successful career in ag lending and for his leadership and commitment to agriculture and the department over the years. Bohnsack holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Agricultural Economics and a Master’s of Business Administration, both from NDSU. Bohnsack has given back to the university through mentoring upper-level students in banking and ag-related studies, presentations to student classes and participation on faculty-selection committees.

Bohnsack has 11 years of banking, branch management and agriculture and business lending experience.

He is involved in a family farm operation near Hillsboro, ND and is a member of the Northwest Farm Management Board, the Central Cass Farm Management Club Board, a founding member and Past President of the F-M Chamber of Commerce Young Professional Network and a member and Past President of the Fargo Area Dollars for Scholars.

Bohnsack and his spouse, Danielle, an Academic Advisor at NDSU, and their one-year-old daughter, Stella, make their home in Fargo, ND.

The John Lee Coulter Award honors North Dakota residents who have made outstanding contributions in the agriculture industry, similar to Coulter, a key figure in an early-day think tank that resulted in the formation of the National Organization for Ray Materials. Born in East Grand Forks, MN and a Bachelor’s, Master’s and Law School graduate of the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, Coulter served as the fourth President of North Dakota Agriculture College, now NDSU, from 1921 until 1929, when he was appointed Chief Economist for the United States Tariff Commission by President Herbert Hoover.

The remodeling marks the first full refurbishing of the building since the bank was built and opened in June of 1979. Following a merger with the former Hallock Savings and Loan Association in 1976, the Hallock office was American Federal’s fourth branch location. It opened as American Federal in January of 1977 at 118 Second Street Southeast. Two and one-half years later, American Federal finished construction of its present bank building at 157 South Second Street in Hallock.

Not only are clients enjoying the new interior, employees are also pleased with the quality of the work space, according to Hallock Market President Paul Craigmile. “The remodel has had very positive impact on clients and staff alike.”

The project included new windows on the west, east and south elevations of the single-story brick bank building and complete refurbishing of the customer service area, including the lobby, Associate work stations and Sales Banker offices, with new carpet, high-end modular walls and furniture. The bank interior retained its three hard-wall offices; however, the rest of the floor space was reconfigured.

Especially attractive are the “earth tone” shades of the interior paint, wall covering and carpet shown in the photo.

Other members of the Hallock staff are Ag and Business Banker Derek Holt and Associates Brenda Harvey, Dawalla Sorenson, Melissa Casper and Tiffany Younggren.

Nowacki joined American Federal in East Grand Forks in 2011. She has 29 years of banking experience in the Warren market. She began her banking career as a Teller and progressed to Personal Banker, originating consumer loans and opening new accounts.

Nowacki is a native of Warren. She was raised on a dairy farm and graduated from Warren High School. She is active in the community, including Board Member of the Warren Chamber of Commerce and Board Member and Treasurer of North Valley Health Center.

Nowacki and her spouse, Mark, who is a Sales Manager for Northern Plains Track in Warren, make their home in Warren. They have two adult children and three grandchildren, all who also live in Warren.

U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Administrator Judith Canales, at left, presented a Rural Development Program award to President Jim Schiltz, at center, who invited his American Federal Banker to attend the recognition event.

The Schiltz Success Story

Schiltz Foods, the largest goose producer in North America, has been selling geese since the early 1940s when Marlin Schiltz was given goose eggs found by his wife and her sister. He raised the geese, sold them and started a family business that has evolved from five geese to more than 200,000 birds and a business that distributes goose meat worldwide.

Today, the successful family business is run by brothers Jim and Richard Schiltz. The company has been based in Sisseton since 1981 when it acquired an old creamery and began producing goose meat under a federal label so it could be shipped across the country.

During the winter, the Schiltz’s processing plant turns into a hatchery until the end of July. The geese are then raised on a farm in Sisseton and anywhere from 18 to 22 weeks later, the geese are ready to be processed.

For years, the focus of the company was to provide whole geese. However, in the past few years, the company has perfected a smoked goose line, which made its debut last year. Jim Schiltz said consumers do not like to invest the time it takes to cook a whole goose, and he wanted to find a way to make goose meat more accessible and easier to eat.

“Smoked goose was always such a greasy mess and often it tasted like ham,” Schiltz said. “We took the time to get the formula right and now we are able to have whole smoked goose (ready for the table in 90 minutes).”

Another focus of the business is to continue researching therapeutic antibodies. Schiltz lost a percentage of its bird flock to the West Nile Virus. A cure was found through therapeutic antibody research using goose eggs and sera and as a result Schiltz has teamed up with several universities, including the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks to continue antibody research.

With the financial loss from the bird flu, “the owners realized they needed to make a change in their production method, but they needed to buy more land to do it,” according to a 2/27/2012 USDA Blog. The Schiltz brothers met with George. “George was impressed with their expertise and knowledge. A loan was approved with a USDA Rural Development Business and Industry guarantee and a Small Business Administration loan was approved. Schlitz Foods was able to make the improvements in production, which would prevent another disease outbreak.”

The company now is in full processing production with 150 employees processing upwards to 7,000 birds each day and the product offering has been expanded by selling smoked goose breast and even goose eggs.

Grundstrom has 20 years of experience in financial services and sales management and is securities licensed.

Most recently, Grundstrom was a Regional Private Banking Manager for North Dakota, South Dakota and Western Minnesota.

He has achieved a number of banking awards, has been a United Way Chairman and is involved in Moorhead Youth Hockey and Soccer.

Grundstrom is a native of Moorhead. He graduated from Moorhead High School, attended Concordia College and is pursuing a degree in Management from the University of Mary at the Fargo campus.

Petry and her family farm north of Ada, Minnesota on a 2,000-acre grain farm and 50 head cow-calf operation. Petry has 16 years experience as the Commodity Marketer and Financial Manager for Jeff and Melissa Petry Farms.

She has worked as an Accounting Technician for Marcussen Accounting, Ada and a Teacher in the Equine Science Department at the University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC).

Petry has served on the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers Board and the Norman County Farm Service Agency County Committee. The Petrys are 2011 North Dakota State University Harvest Bowl County Agriculturalist Honorees, received the 2006 Minnesota Outstanding Young Farmers Award and were the 2004 Agassiz Valley Leaders for Normal County.

Petry graduated from Glyndon-Felton High School in Glyndon, Minnesota, earned an Associate of Arts Degree in Equine Science from UMC and received an Advanced Commodity Marketing Certificate in Farm Business Management from Northland College, Thief River Falls, Minnesota.

Abarr, who works with farm and business clients throughout the Fargo-Moorhead market, the Red River Valley and western Minnesota, has 14 years of commercial and ag lending and sales management experience.

He joined American Federal in 2008 as a Vice President and Ag and Business Banker. He was promoted to Moorhead Market President in 2009 and Moorhead-Wahpeton Market President in 2011.

Abarr is a graduate of the University of Wyoming, Laramie, where he earned a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Finance.

Seventeen American Federal Bankers have earned American Federal’s highest honor of recognition for outstanding sales and sales referral performance in 2011.

A “Sales Star” is the highest honor of recognition an employee can earn at American Federal.

American Federal’s 2011 Sales Stars are:

• George Sinner, Ag and Business Banker, Fargo South
• Kent Anderson, Fargo South Market President
• Jason Jaeger, Business and Ag Banker, Fargo Downtown
• Ken Schneider, Private Banker, Fargo Downtown
• Ryan Bohnsack, Ag and Business Banker, Fargo South
• Dan Paulson, Fosston Market President
• Clayton Quade, Ag and Business Banker, Fosston
• Kerry Knoff, Personal Banker, East Grand Forks
• Lon Gulberg, Private Banker, Grand Forks
• Joanne Loeslie, Associate, Grand Forks
• Pam Knudson, Operations Manager, Greater Grand Forks-Northwood
• Percy Blake, Crookston Market President
• Christine Erdman, Personal Banker, Crookston
• Chris Marvel, Business Banker, Fergus Falls
• Kim Peters, Personal Banker & Office Manager, Ada
• Marlene Neys, Associate, Warren
• Dean McCleary, CFO

Sinner earned the Top Sales Star in the Ag and Business Banking division. Anderson received the Top Sales Star in the Sales Manager division. Knoff was the Top Sales Star in the Retail Banking division. Loeslie and McCleary were the Top Referral Sales Stars.

In recognition of their achievement, the employees and their families were invited to attend a weekend retreat, training seminar and awards banquet in their honor at the Arrowwood Conference Center in Alexandria, MN.

American Federal introduces eStatements for Online Banking customers and Online Financial Manager business clients.

A convenient and safe banking solution, eStatements will help you simply your financial records management.

With eStatements from American Federal, you can view, print and download up to 24 months of statements for checking and savings accounts. It’s easy to register, easy to use and available to you 24/7 wherever you have Internet access. And, it’s free.

You get access to your eStatements within one business day of your statement cycle. No more waiting for mail delivery and the safety concerns of receiving statements in your mailbox or shredding paper.

Manage your financial records with ease and in a safe and secure environment.

To Enroll

To enroll in eStatements today, log on to Online Banking or Online Financial Manager if you are a business and click the blue eStatements button from the menu on the left side of your screen. Once you have completed the steps in the enrollment process, you will receive a message confirming your registration. You will receive an email notifying you when your first eStatement is available and how to view it. It’s that easy!

If you are an American Federal customer but are not enrolled to use Online Banking or Online Financial Manager, enroll in Online Banking at americanfederalbank.com.

Benefits of eStatements:

• Added convenience.
• Stop waiting for the mail. View eStatements with ease within one business day of your statement cycle.
• Receive email notification when your eStatement is ready to view.
• View all checking and savings account information in one convenient location.
• Eliminate paper clutter.
• Organize and store account statements electronically and shred less paper.
• Help the environment by reducing paper consumption.
• Feel safer.
• Reduce the risk of identity theft and mail fraud that comes with account documents in the mailbox.
• eStatements and Online Banking are protected by encryption security, multi-factor authentication and the user’s unique sign-on ID and password.
• They’re official.
• eStatements contain the same information as paper statements and are presented as a pdf file for convenient viewing, printing and saving.
• Use eStatements for taxes and record keeping.
• They’re FREE.
• No charge to enroll or to switch to eStatements with Online Banking.