designs and manufactures store fixtures, has been a Pioneer
customer for 20 years.
The strategic plan helped guide the bank through the Great
Recession. “During the middle of the recession, we didn’t sit
back and let it happen,” Loe said. “We were really aggressive.”
That aggressiveness resulted in the launch of remote
deposit capture among the bank’s business customers. Pio-
neer now offers 24-hour banking, online services, and mobile
banking. It put up a Facebook page in November.
The Rusk County bank was remodeled in 2011, right-sizing
the teller line to adjust to the new normal of mobile transac-
tions and putting all of the offices on one floor to improve
efficiency. “As tough as [the Great Recession] has been, I think
we’re all better bankers,” Loe said. “We have been forged in the
fire.”
Community Involvement, Development
Community involvement is one of Pioneer’s key tenets. Loe
is involved in the local Chamber of Commerce, which ties
together other organizations and projects. In 2013, Ladysmith
was chosen to be part of the Wisconsin Economic Develop-
ment Corporation’s Main Street program, which focuses on
organization, promotion, design, and economic restructuring
to revitalize a community’s downtown.
Pioneer Bank was one of the founding supporters for Lady-
smith’s Main Street application, and Loe chairs the economic
restructuring portion of the program. “It takes energy to keep
rust from forming,” he said of his volunteer efforts. But there’s
another reason for his altruism. “I believe that community
development and community banks go hand in hand.”
Slow, Organic Growth
The success of Ladysmith hinges on the bank’s success
and vice versa. Pioneer aims for “slow, organic growth,” Loe
said. With the economic indicators brightening, the bank has
increased its growth rate in a “careful” way. “We are fortunate in
many ways that the bank has been conservative over the years.”
Pioneer has $66 million in assets, $56 million in deposits,
and a $24 million loan portfolio. Pioneer has two locations
and 16 employees.
Being a community banker “is the best job you can have,”
Loe said. “You have a chance to build something, to work with
families who are managing their day-to-day business, [and]
work with the communities and … small businesses to help
them grow and thrive.”
From all accounts, many of the local small businesses
return the love. Kevin Andres, a farmer who milks 150 head
of cows and grows 1,200 acres of corn and soybeans, said, “We
started with Pioneer Bank with my father. We stayed with
them because of service. They do everything for us.”
Doug DeWitt, president of Acrylic Design and Fabricating
in Ladysmith, banks at Pioneer because it’s a “hometown bank
and Jim has done a great job with us … Jim is an outstanding
person and a great businessman.”
When asked what makes Pioneer Bank unique, Loe said,
“What makes our bank unique now is what made community
banks form back in the late 1800s. They were formed to help
grow the community.”
May/June 2014
Wisconsin Community Banker
11
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