ABOUT US

Mission Statement of Profinium Financial
Our Locations
Profinium Financial – Our History
Martin County National Bank of Fairmont
Peoples State Bank of Truman
The Creation & Defining of Profinium Financial
Profinium Financial Board Members

Welcome From the CEO

Mission Statement of Profinium Financial

Our Locations

Profinium Financial– Our History

On October 24, 2003, two community banks with a combined history of over 215 years merged to become one state bank, Profinium Financial. We are an institution that has always taken pride not just in our ever expanding branches, but in our deep roots. Our history and connection to our communities is what makes us what we are today. We offer you a bit of our long and cherished history.

Martin County National Bank of Fairmont

The history of Martin County National Bank of Fairmont really begins with the arrival of our founder, Albert L. Ward to the Midwest. Mr. Ward, a native of New York, had faithfully served the Union Army as a New York Volunteer Infantryman during the U.S. Civil War. Upon receiving an honorable discharge in the spring of 1864, he set out across the country at the age of 22 to visit friends who had immigrated to southern Minnesota, the land of new opportunities. He arrived in the city of Winnebago and immediately inquired at the local federal grant office as to available land. Surveying the options, he selected a rolling 160 acres in section nine of the new Fairmont Township. He arrived to first see his new land and our fledgling community on April 28, 1864. Mr. Ward was immediately stunned by the unique beauty of the lakes and landscape. In an article written on April 28th, 1924, the 60th anniversary of his arrival, Mr. Ward recalled his awe of the place he would spend the rest of his days:

"When we wound in around the prairie slough from the northeast and drove the ox team up on the ground where the courthouse grounds now are, the sun was near it setting on a perfect spring day; the evening rays shining through the freshly leafed trees and over the silvery waters made what I thought to be the most beautiful scene I ever beheld. I decided that here I would stop and spend my lifetime, and I've been here ever since-and the sunsets still seem as beautiful as the one which I admired the day I arrived."

During his first summer in the Midwest, Mr. Ward harvested hay from the property he had homesteaded and sold it to the government for the troops stationed at Fort Fairmont, where the present Martin County Courthouse now sits. Demonstrating his life long industriousness, within six months he started a general merchandising business, a legal practice and continued to invest heavily in the rich local farmland.

In 1874, Albert Ward sold his interest in his legal practice and redirected his efforts to the burgeoning business of banking. On January 1, 1875 the Martin County National Bank received its charter as a new state bank serving the now growing Martin County population. As president and primary shareholder, Mr. Ward invested the hefty sum of $700 into a new building. He chose to locate our bank near old Fort Fairmont on the hill overlooking Lake Sisseton, a few feet from where our present building now stands. Shortly thereafter, Martin County National Bank moved into a larger facility nearby and began conducting its business from the first “new” building in 1878.

Throughout his time with the bank Mr. Ward worked to build the community and serve our customers. His tenure as president lasted until his death in 1931. By the time of his death he had become the main shareholder in five local banks and acquired substantial land holdings. Since our prodigious founder’s passing, we have had only six presidents lead our Fairmont branch.

Our second Fairmont president, Elmore Houghtaling, lead our institution from 1931 until 1953. He originally came to Fairmont with his parents when he was 15 years old. Elmore Houghtaling was selected as president as a result of his many years serving on the bank's board of directors.

Our third president was Chris Holden. Mr. Holden, our first native born president. He honorably served one and a half years in France and Germany during World War I. Upon his return, Mr. Holden studied bookkeeping and general accounting at Mankato Commercial College. After initially working for the Farmers Elevator in Ormsby and the Montery bank, Mr. Holden joined the bank staff shortly thereafter. Mr. Holden presided over the bank during challenging and changing times, including the great depression. At his retirement in 1977, the bank had grown to employ twenty-six employees.

Maynard Kastning served as our fourth president from 1977 to 1986. Mr. Kastning was widely known for his commitment to helping customers and aiding the growth of our community. He retired in 1986 but continued to serve on our board of directors for many years after.

Curt Nelson served as president from 1987 until 1999. During his time at the bank, he served with integrity and loyalty. Under his presidency the bank weathered the difficult farm crisis of the late 80s. With the direction of the Ward family and the board of directors, the bank decided it had outgrown its now aged redstone building and decided to more than triple its size. In 1991 the beautiful bank building you see today sitting on the bank of lake Sisseton was completed and opened to the public.

The year of 1999 brought a variety of changes to Martin County National Bank. Gary Hoehn became the sixth president of the Fairmont branch in 125 years. That same year, for the first time, control of the bank changed from the Ward family to the Krahmer family, long-time Fairmont natives. The Krahmers, who officially purchased the bank in December of 1999, have been involved in the banking industry for over 30 years. In selling their controlling interest to the Krahmers, the Ward family fulfilled their desire to keep the bank locally owned and commitment to the future of the community.

Throughout the history of Martin County Bank, the longest in the county, our asset size grew as we won over more and more customers. In 1910 our total assets were $731,000. Over the next few decades we grew faster and faster:

1920 $1,468,000
1960 $6,923,000
1980 $40,234,000
1990 $79,872,000
2000 $136,491,000

By 2003, we changed direction again, becoming one with Peoples State Bank of Truman and changing our name to what you now know us as.

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Peoples State Bank of Truman

Peoples State Bank of Truman was founded in May of 1916 by a group of eight investors: L. J. Hinton, J. E. Stockman, B. J. Dallman, P. M. Dickerson, Henry Brownlee, Andrew Levik, August Ebert and L. A. Smith. They opened for business June 14, 1916 with two other competitors already in existence: the National Bank owned by Albert Ward, and Truman State Bank.

The first bank building was purchased from Hamm Brewing Company of St. Paul for $6,000.00. At the time the Truman bank was incorporated it was permitted to accept total deposits of up to $240,000.00 with capital contributed of $20,000. Its actual assets totaled $152,109. In 1916 interest paid on a 12-month certificate was 5%. By 1920, three banks in a town of 752 were too many. The Truman State Bank and the National Bank merged to form the Truman National Bank.

Peoples State Bank and Truman National Bank merged on March 30, 1946, and the Peoples State Bank then moved into the building formerly occupied by the National Bank. The former State Bank quarters were then rented to the postal department as the Truman Post Office.

Peoples State Bank moved into its different banking quarters in 1956 on the corner of today's Central Avenue and Ciro Street, which was known at one time as Silk Stocking and Main Street. The old bank building was sold to the Erickson Law Firm and later housed State Farm Insurance. During the time this building stood empty, it was leased to the Truman School for classroom purposes as the new school was being built.

In 1979 L. J. Hinton's son-in-law, Donald “Barney” Huemoeller purchased all of the bank stock. Years later, after shaping the bank to match his warm and energetic personality, he retired and sold the bank to Fred C. Krahmer, a business partner and friend.
There have been eight presidents of the Truman branch: J. E. Stockman 1916-1944; B. J. Dallman 1945-1969; E. A. Fenrick 1969-1972; Perry M. Hinton 1973-1978; Donald “Barney” Huemoeller 1979-1986; Jerry D. Teig 1987-1996; Ove S. Oren 1997-2003; and Gary Pawlitschek, 2003 to present.

From our humble beginnings with assets of $152,000, we grew with accelerating speed until 2003 when we exceeded $50,000,000 of total assets. With the change in asset size, came a change in total employees and technology needs. Our banking building in downtown Truman was no longer sufficient. In late 2003 we moved our bank onto Highway 15 to where you now know it to exist. We added two drive through windows and expanded our lobby and conference room.

With a new facility and a desire to continue our growth, we joined with our sister bank Martin County National Bank to become one financial institution: Profinium Financial.

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The Creation & Defining of Profinium Financial

After working together as sister banks for nearly four years, the Krahmer family and the board of directors of the institutions believed it would benefit our customers and improve the banks if we merged into one. In merging two equals, it was agreed there would have to be a new name to help define what we desired to accomplish.

The executive committee set out the following rules for the new name: It could not be our existing names; There could be no winners and losers in this merger of equals; It could not be a prominent name others had already placed meaning upon; It had to be an empty cup open for us to fill with meaning; It could not denote a particular location or particular market; and It had to be a unique and memorable moniker.

After soliciting the assistance of experts, and employees, our demanding rules for the name led us to PROFINIUM FINANCIAL: Professional Financial Solutions for the New Millennium. Our name is meant to evolve and grow with meaning, such as other invented names just as Pepsi and Microsoft have grown to hold deep meaning and an identification with superior quality. As a trademarked name, we own it exclusively, not just in our local community, nor just within Minnesota, but nationally. We believe it will grow to reflect exactly who and what we are: unique, innovative, professional and serving all financial needs. Under our new name and united into one bank we seek to become the defining statement of the future of community banking: delivering the highest quality service, making decisions locally, all while actively participating in the growth and general welfare of the communities we serve.

We look forward to another 215 years as a growing and prosperous community bank, dedicated to serving all of the financial needs of our communities.

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Profinium Financial Board Members

The board members of Profinium Financial are:

Fred C. Krahmer - Chairman
Fred W. Krahmer - Vice Chairman
Gene Tonne - Director
Ray Stawarz - Director
Larry Swanson - Director
Marques Doppler - Director
Michelle Krahmer - Director

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