.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} It was literally an unlucky break that brought Dave Nelson back to Des Moines 30 years ago to finish college at Drake University.

While he was a freshman playing football for the University of South Dakota Coyotes, Nelson broke his foot, which prompted him to set aside his gridiron aspirations and transfer to Drake. “I was a regular player but also a kicker, so I thought it was kind of a bad sign to have that break,” he said wryly. Fortunately, that decision helped put Nelson on the pathway to a banking career that recently brought him back to Des Moines as the new president and CEO of West Bancorporation Inc.

On April 1, the 49-year-old Des Moines native began his first official day with the West Des Moines-based bank holding company; he also serves as chairman and CEO of its main operating subsidiary, West Bank.

“This has always been home to me,” said Nelson, who left Iowa for Minnesota 23 years ago to work for Wells Fargo & Co., which at the time was still Norwest Bank. For the past 15 years, he’s lived in Rochester, where until recently he led Wells Fargo’s southeast Minnesota banking division. “I’m very excited about returning,” Nelson said. “I think there’s something very special about returning home. I’m very appreciative of the opportunity the board of directors of West Bank has given me.”

Reconnecting

Nelson, who takes the reins of West Bank after a tumultuous year marked by record losses, retreating stock prices and the resignation of Tom Stanberry, his predecessor, said he is optimistic about the future of the banking industry and that he is particularly confident about West Bank.

“It really comes down to having a team that knows what they need to do, that knows how to do it, and they enjoy doing it,” he said. “When you have the products and services, that’s great, but you need the team, you need the talent. And you need to develop the relationships. When you have fun doing a job, you do it better. That’s part of what I look forward to, to make sure that’s happening and to build upon that.”

With the economy about as bad in 1983 as it is now, Nelson decided to take advantage of an academic scholarship offered by Drake to earn a master of business administration degree. His first job in banking was with Bankers Trust Co., where he met Brad Winterbottom, then with Bankers Trust and now West Bank’s president.

“That was a real plus for me, and will be as I move forward with my acclimation here, knowing people like Brad Winterbottom and Kevin Smith and Al Peterson,” all former Bankers Trust employees who are now at West Bank.

“I really look forward to reconnecting with old friends and with my community,” Nelson said. Not to mention enjoying the Drake Bulldogs.

“I’m a big sports enthusiast,” he said. “I grew up thinking there wasn’t anything cooler than the Drake Relays. I still remember that we got out of school to go watch the Drake Relays. And I remember as a kid just loving Drake basketball, and how excited I was in recent times when Drake’s really had some great teams.”

Nelson, who squeezed in an hour with the Business Record last week while his wife and two teenage children were visiting prospective schools, joked that it’s been a long time since he has had so many changes happen at once.

“I graduated from M.B.A. school, got married and started a job all within six weeks,” he said. “I remember thinking that I hadn’t had that much going on in such a short amount of time, until now,” he said with a laugh.

Nelson noted that his parents still live in the same house in Urbandale where the family resided while he delivered The Des Moines Register and later attended Hoover High School. He married his high school sweetheart, Kathie Lenc, who is finishing up the school year as a teacher in Rochester. The couple, who have a 15-year-old son, Nick, and 13-year-old daughter, Natalie, recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary.

“(Kathie’s) an artist by passion, but also a teacher by profession,” he said. “She went to Grand View College and majored in fine arts and graphic design. She did a lot of freelance art work in her early days after college. When we had children, her primary focus was on raising a healthy and happy family. But now that the kids are older, she’s gone to work with the school system.”

High standard

Over his past 15 years in Rochester, Nelson set a high standard for himself and his employees in community leadership and volunteerism. He has served in numerous leadership positions, among them as a director and board member of the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce, on the finance committee and foundation board of the county hospital, Olmsted Medical Center, and on the foundation board of Rochester Community and Technical College. He and Kathie have also co-chaired that city’s United Way annual giving campaign.

He has coached youth baseball and basketball for the past several years and Kathie has been involved with youth gymnastics clubs in Rochester. The family has also hosted a Division I baseball player from around the country each summer in their home for the past three years.

“We think a lot of him,” said Rochester Mayor Ardell Brede, who said he’ll miss seeing him at the Rochester Honkers baseball games. “Dave has made a pretty big footprint in Rochester with the things he’s been involved in.”

Nelson “is definitely one of the key leaders in Rochester and the community as a whole,” said Hal Henderson, a principal with HGA Architects and Engineers in Rochester and a member of the Wells Fargo bank board. “He’s highly respected.”

Henderson said Rochester leaders were surprised when Nelson announced he was leaving, but they understood the opportunity.

“He’s just an all-around super guy,” Henderson said. “It’s a huge loss to Rochester. Des Moines is gaining a really special person.”

One of Nelson’s proudest accomplishments was receiving a mayor’s medal of honor from Brede in 2004 in recognition of his community service.

“I have done a lot and I’ve enjoyed it,” Nelson said. “I believe in the business case of community leadership, and it’s also fun.”

Each individual and organization carries some degree of responsibility for volunteering their time, but there is also a strong business case for community involvement, Nelson said.

“It reinforces why (your customers) should do business with you, that you’re a good community player,” he said. “But it’s also fun; it’s something you can enjoy and feel good about that you’re really making a contribution.”

West Bank employees can expect to hear two questions from him about their community involvement, he said: Is this something that will be good for West Bank? And is this something you will personally derive satisfaction from?

“If you can’t, then pick something else, because you can find something where you can answer yes to both of those questions,” he said. “That’s a core value that I have, that everyone can answer yes to those two questions.”

Recovery possible

The variety that’s inherent in business banking appealed to Nelson early in his career.

“You get a taste of everything imaginable that the community has to offer in terms of businesses of all shapes and sizes,” he said.

“I also was drawn to the financial side of things, working with businesses, understanding financial statements and how they differ in different types of industries. So I knew that I wanted to be in the field of banking.”

Fostering a relationship of mutual trust with customers is essential, particularly during tough economic times, Nelson said.

“When there’s something that we don’t want to do or can’t do, I’ve always believed a quick no is better than a slow maybe. But I always want to present things to people to say, ‘Here’s what we can do.'”

His perspective on the current financial crisis stems from dealing with similar economic turmoil early in his banking career.

During the farm crisis in the mid-1980s, “there were very significant credit problems at all the banks, just as there are today,” he said. “Credit quality is a big issue for everyone in the financial industry, including West Bank.”

When he joined Norwest Bank in Mankato, Minn., the bank was subject to a memorandum of understanding with regulators due to significant credit quality problems. “I experienced full well what that meant and how that felt,” he said. “I also learned that it is possible to recover from that. Certainly having the economy improve will be the tide that lifts all ships.”

Under Nelson’s leadership, the Mankato branch became the leading bank in that market, which led to his promotion to Rochester, where he was named market president and then division president for Wells Fargo’s Southeast Minnesota banks.

“We gained the dominant market share in both of those communities, and I really attribute that to building the best possible teams, having deep relationships with customers, being very active in the community and helping all of our customers meet their financial goals,” he said. “Those are the same concepts that I believe are applicable with my new opportunity.”

West Bank has a talented group of professionals on board, one with which he shares core values of customer service and caring, he said.

“I believe that the team with the best players wins, assuming that they have a decent coach,” he said. “That’s really my role, to be that coach, to be that leader. … What really drives our success and satisfaction in what we do is being of assistance to our customers, and to do that you really have to understand their business. That’s when banking really becomes fun.”