Terry Katsma to Run for Assembly
Doris Green
Oostburg
State Bank President
Terry Katsma
resigned his position in May to enter
Wisconsin’s 26th Assembly District
race. Running as a Republican, he faces
Job Hou-Seye, of Sheboygan, in an
Aug. 12 primary election.
If a chance encounter at the bank
is any indication, Katsma has enthusi-
astic support in his home community.
Entering the bank, this reporter met
Katsma in the lobby. As we shook
hands, a bank customer approached.
“I just need a minute,” said the man,
who wore the work clothes of a Wis-
consin farmer. “I wanted you to know:
I’m going to vote for you.”
As we settled into his office, Katsma
said, “I didn’t stage that!”
But there was no need to mention
it. Any observer would not doubt the
veracity of that true-to-the-core Mid-
western customer.
With most of his banking experi-
ence in lending, Katsma places a high
value on the customer relationships
he has built over the years. “It’s been
wonderful seeing the successes of our
customers.”
Like community banking, politics
is a people-centered profession. On
learning about his candidacy, one
community banking colleague told
Katsma: “Politics and banking are
similar. Both require diplomacy.”
Diplomatic experience can come in
many ways. Katsma served on the vil-
lage board for six years and with many
other civic and nonprofit organiza-
tions. “I am no more involved than
any other community banker who is
fully engaged in all aspects of his or
her community.”
Katsma is deeply centered in his
Midwestern roots. “I’m pretty mature
in my beliefs. I feel very stable in
where I am and look forward to hav-
ing an influence and improving life
for people across Wisconsin,” he said.
“I can be an effective advocate for a
commonsense approach and provide a
broad perspective.”
His priorities will sound familiar
to many community bankers—less
government intrusion in our lives, less
regulation, and lower taxes. “I bring
common sense and the notion of a
citizen legislator.”
“I will work to control excessive
spending, seek to cut the tax burden,
and work to reduce excessive govern-
ment regulations and allow for the free
market to create jobs,” Katsma stated
in the release announcing his bid. “It
Oostburg Native
Born and raised in Sheboygan
County, Terry Katsma first worked
as a summer intern at Oostburg State
Bank. After graduating in 1980 with
a degree in business administration
from Dordt College, Sioux Center,
Iowa, Katsma and his wife Nancy (also
a Sheboygan County native) accepted
a job in Chicago. There, he enrolled
in DePaul University’s MBA program,
and he and Nancy had the first of their
three children.
While they enjoyed the excitement
and cultural opportunities of the big
city, when Oostburg State Bank asked
him to return, the couple moved
home, opting to raise their family in
Oostburg.
Like most community bankers,
Katsma got involved with a variety of
public and nonprofit organizations,
serving on the village board for six
years, as well as on nonprofit, private
school, and college boards of direc-
tors/trustees, including that of his
Dordt College alma mater. He cur-
rently serves with:
Oostburg Area Chamber of Com-
merce (president elect)
Citizen member of Sheboygan City/
County Shared Services Committee
Workbound, Inc. Board of Direc-
tors (past president)
Board of Trustees Trinity Christian
College, Palos Heights, IL (corporate
treasurer and chairman-finance and
audit)
Board of Managers Sheboygan
YMCA
Christian Reformed Church of
Oostburg (elder)
Oostburg Kiwanis (member, also
past president and past secretary)
Katsma began his 34-year career
with the bank as assistant cashier
and a loan officer. Working largely in
lending, he served more than a dozen
years as senior vice president, before
becoming president in 2012. Katsma
has never regretted the move back to
community banking.
Case in point: When Katsma
moved back to Oostburg, he com-
pleted his MBA program at Marquette
University in Milwaukee. About this
time Sears was going into banking
through its Greenwood Trust Com-
pany, issuer of Discover Card. Noting
Sears’ move into financial services,
a Marquette adjunct professor made
light of small, community institutions
like Oostburg State Bank.
But Sears, of course, later sold its
various financial businesses. And now,
Katsma likes to point out that history
has proven that community banks can
out-succeed the big banks.
8
Wisconsin Community Banker
May/June 2014
Terry Katsma
