KleinBank was an American

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

based in Minnesota that operated from 1907 until it was acquired by

Old National Bank Old National Bank is an American regional bank with nearly 200 retail branches operated by Old National Bancorp and based in Chicago and Evansville, Indiana. With assets at $48.5 billion and 250 banking centers, Old National Bancorp is the larg ...

in 2019. KleinBank was headquartered in

Chaska, Minnesota Chaska ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Carver County, Minnesota, Carver County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 27,810 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. An outer ring suburb of the Twin Cities located southwe ...

and operated 21 bank branches. In 2019, KleinBank was the largest family-owned state bank in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

with assets over $1.9 billion.About
kleinbank.com After being acquired the bank branches were rebranded as Old National Bank.

History

Founding

The sons of German immigrant and Minnesota farmer, George Klein, purchased controlling shares in The First National Bank of Chaska in 1907. Until that time, the two men, C.H. Klein and C.P. Klein, had been operating their father's brickyard. Klein had acquired the brickyard following a severe depression in 1893. It was the only remaining brickyard in Chaska which at one point had 11 individual brickyards in operation between 1857 and 1895. C.H. Klein was elected to the Chaska School Board in 1900, to the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

in 1902, and to the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any State legislature (Unite ...

in 1910.

Expansion

The bank expanded west along the railroad as the Kleins helped organize banks in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Waconia,

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, and

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States * Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer Places in the United States Populated places * Madi ...

. Banks were also acquired in nearby

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

and Young America during C.H. Klein's time as Bank President.

Management changes - 1960s

C.P. Klein's son, George, took over controlling interest in the Klein-owned banks after the deaths of C.H. Klein in 1961 and C.P. Klein in 1962. Under George Klein's direction, the Klein Bancorporation, Inc., (KBI) was created in 1975 to manage and supervise the Klein-owned banks. George's son, Dan, became Chairman and President of KBI in 1979 after George's death in 1979. George's other two sons, Alan and Jim, became Senior Vice Presidents of KBI.

Consolidation - 1990s

In 1997, KBI was renamed Klein Financial as the company began to take steps toward consolidating their nine chartered banks. In 2005, the nine charted banks were successfully merged into a single charter and the banks renamed, KleinBank. On November 1, 2018 KleinBank became a division of

Timeline

:* 1907 - C.H. Klein and C.P. Klein acquires controlling shares of The First National Bank in Chaska, MN :* 1911 - C.H. Klein opens Victoria State Bank in Victoria, MN :* 1919 - C.H. Klein helps form First National Bank of Waconia in Waconia, MN :* 1926 - C.H. Klein acquires controlling share of The State Bank of Young America in Young America, MN and The State Bank of Cologne in Cologne, MN :* 1927 - C.H. Klein opens Security National Bank in Montevideo, MN :* 1931 - C.H. Klein and C.P. Klein opens Klein National Bank of Madison in Madison, MN :* 1977 - The First National Bank of Waconia opens a new branch in St. Bonifacius, MN :* 1988 - KBI acquires Oakley National Bank in Buffalo, MN :* 1993 - KBI acquires The Chanhassen Bank in

Chanhassen, MN Chanhassen ( ) is a city in Carver County, Minnesota, United States about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Minneapolis. The population was 25,947 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate of 26,469. A small portion of the city extends into Henn ...

:* 1997 - The First National Bank of Chaska opens a second branch in Chaska, MN :* 1998 - The First National Bank of Chaska opens a new branch in

Shakopee, MN Shakopee ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Minnesota, United States. It is southwest of Minneapolis. Sited on the south bank bend of the Minnesota River, Shakopee and nearby suburbs comprise the southwest portion of Minneap ...

:* 2000 - KBI acquires Preferred Bank in Big Lake, MN :* 2002 - Preferred Bank opens a branch in Maple Grove, MN :* 2004 - The First National Bank of Chaska opens a new branch in

Carver, MN Carver is a city in Carver County, Minnesota, Carver County, Minnesota, United States. Located along the Minnesota River, the population was 3,724 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is named after early explorer Jonathan Ca ...

:* 2006 - KleinBank opens a new branch in Lakeville, MN :* 2007 - KleinBank acquires an Eagle Valley Bank branch in Burnsville, MN :* 2008 - KleinBank acquires First Community Bank Savage in

Savage, MN Savage ( ) is a suburban city south-southwest of downtown Minneapolis in Scott County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city is on the south bank of the Minnesota River in a region commonly called ''South of the River,'' comprising the south ...

:* 2009 - KleinBank opens a new branch in Otsego, MN :* 2010 - KleinBank acquires Community Bank Plymouth in Plymouth, MN :* 2014 - KleinBank acquires Prior Lake State bank in Prior Lake, MN :* 2018-

acquires 18 remaining branches of Klein Bank while Wings Financial buys three buildings of branches where

already has banking centers :* 2019- KleinBank merges with its owner

and all KleinBank branches close and reopen as

banking centers

Discriminatory lending practices

On January 13, 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against KleinBank for alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act by structuring its home mortgage lending business to avoid serving neighborhoods where a majority of residents were racial and ethnic minorities. The lawsuit asserted that the bank's service area was in a horseshoe shape around the urban areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul (which had higher minority populations) and targeted its mortgage advertising solely toward white neighborhoods. The lawsuit also claimed that from 2010 to 2015, other comparable lenders generated 5.58% of their single-family residential loan applications related to residential property located in the majority-minority census tracks compared to KleinBank's 1.06%. The bank's website at the time indicated that it had 21 branches in suburbs west of Minneapolis and St. Paul and in western Minnesota—regions which, according to census data, were predominantly white.

Accolades

* Minnesota Business Ethics Award (2011) * Minnesota Family Business Award (2012) * Star Tribune Top Workplace (2014) * BBB Torch Awards for Ethics (2014) * BBB International Torch Award for Ethics (2015) * Star Tribune Top Workplace (2016) * TCB Readers' Choice Best of Business , Best Business Bank (2016)Twin cities business
pageturnpro.com * TCB Readers' Choice Best of Business , Best Mortgage Company (2016) * SBA Minnesota Lenders Awards , Large Lender (2016)

References

External links

Official KleinBank website

City of Chaska

History of KleinBank

In Memoriam: Senators Alfred Berglund, Colvin G. Butler, Sherman W. Child, Leonard W. Dernek, H.C. Hanson, John A. Johnson, Charles Klein, Martin M. Malone, Nels A. Pederson, Herbert Rogers, et al. State of Minnesota Senate Chamber, April 3, 1963.
{{DEFAULTSORT:KleinBank 2018 mergers and acquisitions Chaska, Minnesota