County Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ICBK) and Investors Community Bank
co-founder and fomer Chairman of the Board William (Bill) Censky
has likely seen faster technological change during his 50-year
banking career than any other time in history. From manually
writing checks and rendering accounts, to being one of the first
bankers in the state to use a personal computer (a 1982 Apple II+)
to working virtually during a global pandemic, Bill has seen it
all.
Bill recently stepped down from his position as County Bancorp,
Inc. and Investors Community Bank Chairman of the Board, wrapping
up a banking career that began in 1969 at Manitowoc County Bank.
Bill’s father, the late Gerald Censky was also a banker and one of
the founders of that bank. Even prior to his official start in
banking, Bill would help his father at home with the rendering the
bank’s month-end DDA statements. This completely manual process
involved verifying check endorsements and matching physical checks
to the ones that were listed on the monthly DDA statement.
Bill officially joined Manitowoc County Bank as a teller in
1969. After graduating from University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh with
a bachelor’s degree in finance and an M.B.A in finance and
accounting, he worked his way through the ranks at the bank,
becoming a consumer lender in 1973, vice president/cashier in 1981,
first vice president/cashier in 1989, and finally was named first
vice president – retail banking in 1993. During these later years,
Manitowoc County Bank merged with First Wisconsin Bank, and then
Firstar Corporation.
It was during these transitions in the mid-to late 1990’s that
Bill and a few of his colleagues, Mark Binversie, Wayne Mueller and
Tim Schneider, realized that the business of banking was changing.
They took a chance, built on the entrepreneurial spirit they each
possessed, and started Investors Community Bank based on the
philosophy that people bank with people, not banks.
Bill’s strong knowledge of banking policy and procedures,
combined with Mark, Wayne and Tim’s agriculture backgrounds and
lending experience led the way to the bank’s opening in the old
Schuette Department Store building in Manitowoc in March of 1997.
Bill served as the bank’s first President and CEO, and had a total
staff of just eight. The Schuette Building remodeling project was
truly a labor of love, as the banks founders, along with that first
handful of employees and their families all pitched in to help
build walls, paint and set up office equipment.
“In the beginning, we really wanted to try to keep our expenses
down, so remodeling that first ICB location became a family
affair,” said Bill. “My son Phillip and I sanded and painted, and
Mark’s kids followed us around vacuuming. Wayne even took a road
trip to a bank in Eldorado, WI and jackhammered out a used, but
encased in concrete, teller vault they were giving to us. Every
single one of those first eight employees jumped in to help get the
work done. Even years later when we moved over to the Rapids Road
location, we had staff show up to help cut down trees and clear the
land. ICB has been a great team since day one.”
Investors Community Bank opened as technology was changing at
lightning speed. The World Wide Web was in its infancy, but ICB was
ahead of the technological curve.
“Email and the web were just beginning to gain mainstream
popularity when the bank opened, and we had to use dial up modems
if we wanted to get online,” said Bill. “We were able to get all
eight of our initial employees a networked PC workstation. This was
very unusual at the time. Most banks had ‘dumb terminals’ with just
a monitor and keyboard. How would we have handled a worldwide
pandemic?”
The bank performed well right from the start and grew at a pace
almost unheard of for a start-up bank. ICB opened additional
locations in Stevens Point in 2010, and Appleton and Green Bay in
2016, as well as four loan production offices scattered throughout
the state. This success led to another highlight of Bill’s career,
when County Bancorp, Inc. (the holding company for Investors
Community Bank) went public and began trading on the NASDAQ Global
Market in 2015. Several months later, a group from ICB had the
opportunity to go to New York to ring the closing bell at NASDAQ,
right in the heart of Times Square.
“If you’d have been walking down Broadway at JUST the right
time, you’d have seen some of our faces on the big outdoor screens
in Times Square!” Bill said proudly.
Other highlights of his illustrious career include serving on
the Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) security committee and as
WBA group president, speaking at a Community Bankers of Wisconsin
annual meeting, and attending several corporate Asset-Liability
Committee (ALCO) meetings – some of which were attended by George
Darling, one of the early pioneers in ALCO.
In November of 2013, Bill passed the CEO torch to Tim Schneider,
and served as his co-CEO and mentor until Bill’s retirement on
December 31, 2016.
“I had the honor of co-founding the bank with Bill back in 1996
and have always been impressed with his business acumen,” said Tim
Schneider, CEO, Investors Community Bank. “When Bill, Mark, Wayne
and I formed the holding company, County Bancorp, Bill was integral
in pulling together our business plan. He also was vital in
our early success as an organization with his vast and varied
banking background. Personally, Bill has been a tremendous
mentor to me and my development and has guided me into my current
role at Investors Community Bank. When Bill tapped me on the
shoulder early on in our existence and asked if I’d be interested
in becoming CEO someday, I modestly accepted and he mentored and
helped develop me into the leader I am today. He has always
been supportive of my growth and laid out a solid path for a farm
boy from Hilbert to move into this position. I will always be
grateful!”
In addition to his role as co-founder, president and CEO, Bill
has served as the chairman of the board of the Company since the
bank’s beginning. While he remains on the board of directors, he
recently handed the chairman of the board reigns over to Andy
Steimle.
“Bill was born with banking in his DNA,” said Steimle, an
attorney with Steimle Birschbach in Manitowoc. “He is very well
known and highly thought of in the industry, and with good reason.
Bill has been a wonderful mentor to me and so many others at the
bank. He led this organization every single day with class and
grace. I look forward to carrying on his tradition of success.”
As for what the future holds, Bill looks forward to the
opportunity to spend more time with his family; wife of 45 years
Nancy, adult children Phillip and Laura, and their two
grandchildren. He also hopes to spend more time traveling and on
the golf course.
And where does he see Investors Community Bank another 20+ years
down the road?
“It is my hope that as the years pass, ICB stays true to our
original mission and values,” said Bill. “Our agriculture focus was
our initial motivation when we were founding the bank, but as we
have grown and become financially successful, we have been able to
diversify and add business and consumer banking to the mix. Why is
staying true to our ag roots so important to our mission? Very few
banks are able to do ag banking just right. The majority of our ag
bankers grew up around agriculture, and understand the struggles of
today’s farmer, seeing them as a person with a story, and not just
a number. We truly walk in our customers shoes, and I hope that
continues for a long time to come.”
About County Bancorp,
Inc.County Bancorp, Inc., a Wisconsin corporation
and registered bank holding company founded in May 1996, and our
wholly-owned subsidiary Investors Community Bank, a
Wisconsin-chartered bank, are headquartered in Manitowoc,
Wisconsin. The state of Wisconsin is often referred to as
“America’s Dairyland,” and one of the niches we have developed is
providing financial services to agricultural businesses statewide,
with a primary focus on dairy-related lending. We also serve
business and retail customers throughout Wisconsin, with a focus on
northeastern and central Wisconsin. Our customers are served from
our full-service locations in Manitowoc, Appleton, Green Bay, and
Stevens Point and our loan production offices in Darlington, Eau
Claire, Fond du Lac and Sheboygan. Visit our Investor Relations
site for details: Investors.ICBK.com.
Investor Relations ContactGlen L. StiteleyEVP -
CFO, Investors Community BankPhone: (920) 686-5658 Email:
gstiteley@icbk.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a12b00ed-edef-4e88-95b8-4763b009ecbc
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