First National Bank of Henning hosts ribbon cutting ceremony at Detroit Lakes branch (2024)

DETROIT LAKES — First National Bank of Henning, along with members of the Detroit Lakes Regional Chamber of Commerce, cut the ribbon at the bank’s Detroit Lakes branch on Friday morning.

Detroit Lakes is one of two First Security Bank branches that First National Bank announced it would acquire in August 2023. The other branch was located in Evansville, Minnesota.

Since then, it’s “been a whirlwind,” First National Bank President Randy Dorn said.

“When you take on a branch acquisition, as a financial institution, you’re required to convert all the data over to your core system,” he said. “So that’s never a fun project for any bank, it went about as well as it could have possibly went. So we are very, very pleased with that.”

Prior to the acquisitions, First National Bank had three locations in Henning, Battle Lake and Ottertail. The bank was originally charted in Henning in 1903 and opened an Ottertail branch in 1977. And in 1993, First National Bank acquired its Battle Lake branch.

Adding two more locations with Detroit Lakes and Evansville was a logical next step given the bank’s established footprint, Dorn said.

Tris Anderson / Detroit Lakes Tribune

“As banks, you receive information about other banks that are coming for sale,” Dorn said. “Maybe banks of specific branches. So we were presented with this opportunity to acquire Detroit Lakes and Evansville and it just makes total sense in our market and for our business model as a community bank.”

The bank’s first day of business in town was Jan. 29, and since then, Dorn said bank staff have gotten involved with a variety of community events, such as the Polar Plunge during Polar Fest, a fundraiser for the Boys & Girls Club of Detroit Lakes. Getting involved with the community is what has excited Dorn most about the acquisition.

“We’ve been heavily involved since we arrived here at the end of January, and that’s what we’re looking for, those connections, those relationships,” Dorn said. “That’s definitely the highlight of the first four months of being here. Detroit Lakes is doing a lot of great things. So for us to be a little piece of the pie, or a part of those projects, is really, really satisfying for us.”

Tris Anderson / Detroit Lakes Tribune

Bank staff also volunteered to help with the recently completed trolls, a sprawling public art installation in and around Detroit Lakes by Danish artist Thomas Dambo.

“We had a significant amount of our staff that went out and worked on the trolls and it’s been a great team-building experience for our staff,” Dorn said.

He expressed gratitude for the staff who stuck around following the acquisition, making the transition that much easier.

“We were very fortunate to retain the staff here in Detroit Lakes,” Dorn said. “The gals here are exceptional and they’ve really been troopers. The customers are going through change and so is the staff.”

First National Bank has a variety of products and services such as rewards checking accounts, mobile banking, a rewards credit card, which the bank services itself, and loans for just about anything, to name a few of its products.

“We don’t just tailor to specific groups, we really have a variety of products, especially the free checking products, which are really for everybody,” Dorn said.

Following the ribbon cutting, the bank hosted a block party to celebrate.

First National Bank is located at 611 Summit Ave., Detroit Lakes. Lobby hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Drive-through hours are 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday; and 8:30 a.m. to noon, Saturday.

Tris Anderson / Detroit Lakes Tribune

Tris Anderson is the managing editor of the Detroit Lakes Tribune and Perham Focus. Prior to joining the Tribune and Focus in August 2022, he was a reporter in North Dakota covering several towns in Richland County in the southeast corner of the state.