“We Don’t Carry Any Dead Weight” — Inside Five Star Bank’s Financial Engine with CFO Heather Luck (Part 2)
In Part 2 of our on-location series, Five Star Bank EVP & CFO Heather Luck unpacks the financial discipline behind the bank’s growth, from outsized CRE concentrations and a falling cost of funds to a low-40s efficiency ratio at a place she says “doesn’t carry any dead weight.”
“A Sales Organization Masquerading as a Bank” — Inside Five Star Bank’s Culture-First (Part 1)
Michael Rizzo on how Five Star Bank built a nationwide mobile home park vertical from one referral and protects a “never-quit” culture at scale…
Why Comp Data Alone Won’t Win Your Next Executive Hire
Many community banks rely on comp data as a guidepost, but it rarely reflects the realities of the hire in front of them. Brian Love breaks it all down…
Banking the Nation: Huntington Bank Executives on the $26B Federal Contracting Opportunity in Indian Country
From dismantling misconceptions about tribal creditworthiness and sovereignty to uncovering a $26 billion federal contracting ecosystem most bankers have never heard of…
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Wall Street to Main Street: CEOs Dimitar Karaivanov and C.K. Lee on Strategy, Talent, and Long-Term Growth
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Pathward’s culture-first approach has become a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining top banking talent…
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Pathward’s culture-first approach has become a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining top banking talent…
The “Easy Button” for Digital Assets: How Custodia and Vantage Are Rewriting Payments for Community Banks
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Succession Without Shortcuts: Lessons from Starion Bank’s President Search
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What Banks Can Learn from EVP Rick Geloff and Bank of North Dakota’s Innovation Strategy
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5 Areas of Focus for Bank Stocks in the Coming Months
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Expanding Beyond Local Banking Limits: Denali State Bank + BancAlliance
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From Commodity to Competitive: How Three Banks Build Winning Products
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Travillian Next, launched in early 2020, is dedicated to producing original, behind-the-scenes content for the banking & fintech industries.































