One and one half centuries

The live music, food and giveaways at Waseca’s Keen Bank location on North State Street are celebrating 150 years of lively history that ties in closely with the community.

“We’ve grown and changed together,” observes president and CEO Bernie Gaytko. He observes that the bank’s 2022 rebrand from its century-old name of “First National Bank of Waseca” was the institution’s way of emphasizing that unique interdependence. “There is–or at least was–a ‘First National’ or a ‘First State’ bank in most communities,” he observes. “People could easily come to believe they were all part of some gigantic corporation.”

“But we are a family owned community bank, so we chose a name that would represent that.”

Local ownership, Gaytko explains, means “decisions are made locally with the community in mind.”

One example, he says, is that Keen Bank has given more than $1.7 million to support local programs and initiatives over the past 20 years. “If we were not locally owned, those decisions would have been made on a corporate level, and that money would likely have gone somewhere else.”

Keen Bank’s marketing director, Briana Worke, says the anniversary being celebrated this week has been planned for some time. During the planning, it was decided that not only should the anniversary be marked, but some record should be made of the many elements of history those years have included, some of which are quite surprising.

Founded as The Bank of Waseca in 1874, the bank had numerous investors including well-known local historian James Child. The bank was housed for a good portion of its history across State Street from its current location. 

As it weathered the depression, the Federal Reserve printed specially labeled money. The idea, Board Chair Emeritus Richard Sankovitz explains, was to use the bank’s local presence to help build public confidence in the community banks.

Following in the footsteps of his father Frank T. Sankovitz, Richard Sankovitz, a 1952 graduate of Sacred Heart High School, led the bank from 1958 to 1997. Among the changes which occurred on his watch were moving the bank to its current location, installing one of the state’s first ATM machines, and acquiring full local ownership of the institution.

A fascinating historic element is that, when the bank made the final move from the former location to the newly completed one, law enforcement officers closed area streets and stood guard while local teenagers were hired to cart the money across the street.

“It stirred a lot of interest,” comments Gaytko. “People gathered nearby to watch as the money was moved.”

Photographs, news clippings and historic artifacts are now reproduced on a history wall which will be available for viewing beginning with this week’s celebration. The timeline introduces many of the people who have been integral to the bank’s development while also marking many of its achievements.

“We’re honored to share our extended history,” says Gaytko, noting that the descendents of Frank T. Sankovitz now comprise the organization’s leadership. Frank began the role in the 1940s when, as a Federal Bank examiner, he noted some discrepancies in the bank’s records and was called in to help resolve the problem. The bank president at the time was released from his duties and bank leaders asked Frank to step into the role.

Visitors to the timeline, which fills an entire wall in the bank’s lower level, will have a chance to visualize some of the history which is truly, as Gaytko phrases it, “interwoven” with that of the Waseca community. The celebration is Thursday, August 22 from 4 to 6 p.m. Scheduled to take place rain or shine, it will be in the parking lot near the bank’s drive-thru.