Midwest Bank loves to give back to the community (2024)

DETROIT LAKES — As a hometown bank, giving back to the community is kind of built into Midwest Bank’s DNA.

“I really do believe that is a difference-maker in a community, when you have something like that,” said Steve Daggett, who has been president and CEO of Midwest Bank for over 27 years. “When people in businesses feel that it is their obligation to give back to the community, that’s when you get the wow factors like the DLCCC, and the Holmes Theatre, and the Historical Society and the Boys and Girls Club,” he said in an interview.

“The big thing before was that the Detroit Lakes Boys and Girls Club was the first one in Minnesota, well now the big thing is it’s not just the first, I’d say it’s the best.”

Then there’s the Detroit Mountain Recreation Area, with its downhill and cross-country skiing, its tubing and its biking trails, “and you know how that’s drawing people,” he said, “and think about that — this is all in one community.”

When businesses and volunteers in a community like Detroit Lakes get involved in projects, and excited about the possibilities, it can create a virtuous circle — where good things feed on good things — and Daggett feels like that’s what Detroit Lakes has going on now.

“You look at the trolls coming to town. That’s another significant item and it’s going to draw a ton of people to this area,” he said. “I think they said only one other spot in the nation has six trolls, and that’s in the Pacific Northwest from Seattle to Portland. Well, we’ve got six in Detroit Lakes, basically. Think about that. That’s a wow factor.”

Nathan Bowe / Down To Business

But none of those things happen without a supportive community and supportive individuals, Daggett said. “It’s really an awesome community — it takes people to have the vision to do different things, and in that area, we’re fortunate as well.”

At one level, Midwest Bank realizes that the bank does well when the community does well, he said. “So if we have a community that’s thriving and expanding and people want to live here and people want to have their kids go to school here and people want to start a business here, it benefits everybody, not just the bank. That’s not why we give. We give because we’re so fortunate to be in this area.”

Midwest is very friendly toward its employees volunteering their time to help the community.

Recently, when scheduled volunteers couldn’t make it to the Becker County Food Pantry to help unload a truck, the request went out for emergency help from Midwest, and three bank employees quickly volunteered to go over and get the truck unloaded.

In that case, the request came through a bank employee who also sits on the Food Pantry Board. But that wasn’t an accident: The bank supports having its employees serve on nonprofit boards and committees as another way of giving back to the community.

Naturally, that includes Daggett, too.

For the past half-dozen or so years, for example, he has been chair of the Music on the Mountain event. “When I think about that — it’s a fundraiser, but I guarantee you 95% of the people who go out there aren’t saying, ’hey, I want to go to this concert because I want to support Detroit Mountain,” Daggett said. “They’re going out there because they know it’s a great event. The fact that it becomes a great fundraiser is because there’s so many sponsors who say ‘you know what? We think Detroit Mountain is really important, so we’re going to give to this fundraiser.’”

The end result is a win-win for everyone. “It’s a wow factor for an event, you get basically the feel of a private concert, of a private act, with, you know, 3,500 people, 3,900 people, and the Mountain makes $150,000 in one night, or whatever the number is. It’s a significant number. So it’s a great fundraiser.”

Detroit Lakes Tribune file photo

Daggett still marvels at how it all comes together. “A good fundraising project lets people know, ‘hey, we couldn’t do this without you. You’re not a commodity — we need you,’ and that’s what’s so fun to see. You’re asking someone for a check for $10,000 or $5,000 or $2,500 and you think, they’re never going to want to talk to me again, or they’re going to screen their phone calls, and instead they’re saying, ‘yeah, come on out,’ or ‘we’re in, we’re in.’ How do you not get in a great mood and not want to do it?”

Midwest doesn’t shy away from large donations — for the original community center project, for example, and then the Backyard playground addition, and then the extensive ballroom renovations there, among other things.

But the bank also helps the community in lots of little ways that aren’t well known, like adopting the flower beds under the Welcome to Detroit Lakes signs on the edge of town. The bank saw a need and quietly took care of it.

Most Midwest bank employees support the United Way through the payroll deduction program, but even if money is short, most people can still help the community by volunteering their time, Daggett said.

“You know what? Every nonprofit will tell you they need volunteers as much as they need dollars. So we really have an expectation that if you’re an employee at Midwest bank, you gotta give back,” Daggett said. “And we think the bank should lead by giving back. And we think that if there’s a good project, organization, or fund-raising opportunity, Midwest Bank better be involved.”

That could be by being on the board of directors for that organization, or volunteering, or by being philanthropic and giving back, providing financial advice, any of those things.

“If I find out a deal we’re not involved with, then that’s shame on us,” Daggett said. “We better know about that event, we better know about that project, and we better be heavily involved — because that’s our way of giving back as well.”

Detroit Lakes Tribune file photo

Not all businesses and individuals share that philanthropic philosophy, Dagget said, and that’s alright. “Some maybe just feel that it’s not important, they maybe just feel that ‘I’ve worked to earn this and it’s mine.’ And that’s fair if that’s their approach.”

But he said Detroit Lakes is blessed with more than its share of givers.

“I think what makes Detroit Lakes stand out is there’s so many people that don’t feel that way. There are so many people and businesses that feel that ‘you know what? Let’s give back.’”

Because of people giving back, there are nine free summer concerts on Fridays at the bandstand in City Park, through the Trucks and Tunes event, and free concerts on Tuesdays in the park as well.

“There’s a wow factor to that as well,” Daggett said. “You can take your lawn chair down to city park on Friday night and listen to some great music.”

All these things add up — the more options in town, “the more likely you’ll find something that resonates with someone who’ll say ‘hey, I want to be part of this community.’ And that’s what Detroit Lakes has.”

Midwest Bank employees have pushed forward with volunteering for the Day of Caring, where people get together and do yardwork and other projects for homeowners who need a hand.

It used to be that business people would supervise groups of 10 students, Daggett said. “Something changed, because of background checks or something, businesses can’t do that anymore.”

So this year, a group of 10 Midwest Bank employees went out and did their own Day of Caring project. “We looked like the world's oldest school kids,” Daggett said with a laugh. “There were some other businesses that did it too. We hope next year more businesses will help out as well.”

After all, there’s plenty of people that need the help, and it doesn’t have to come only from the students, he said.

Daggett said he is fortunate that Midwest Bank has a board of directors that agrees with his giving-back philosophy. “The board could say, ‘hey, the important thing is driving profits and return on equity and that’s your main job,’” he said. “And there could be some banks that feel that way — we don’t feel that way. We feel if we don’t give back, that’s pretty selfish, and that’s just not in our DNA.”

If something major is happening in Detroit Lakes “we want to be involved, and we want to have some numbers to the left of the comma,” he said with a smile.