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The Montana Bankers Association (MBA) announced the newly elected 2021-2022 leaders of the organization’s board today, resulting from elections among the MBA membership at the 118th Annual Membership Meeting earlier in June 2021.

Jake Pelczar, Senior Vice President, Bank of Montana is the newly elected Chairman of the MBA Board of Directors, with Mike Seppala, President, Western Security Bank to serve as the Vice Chair of the Board, and Desiree Elkin, Chief Credit Officer, Summit National Bank to serve as Secretary-Treasurer. Bill Bickle, Chief Credit Officer, Stockman Bank of Montana will serve as Immediate Past Chairman and Chuck Eble, Chief Credit Officer, American Bank of Montana was elected to the Board to represent small and mid-sized Montana banks.

• New MBA Board Chairman, Jake Pelczar, started with Bank of Montana in 2012. He went to the University of Montana and has a degree in B.S. Business Administration/Finance. Pelczar is an avid mountain biker, bow-hunter, and hiker.

• New MBA Vice Chairman, Michael Seppala, is President of Western Security Bank of Billings, a Division of Glacier Bank. Mike has over 30 years of experience in the banking industry in Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana.

• New MBA Secretary-Treasurer, Desiree Elkin, started her career in banking as an examiner with the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in 2004. She joined Summit National Bank in 2010 and has been the Chief Credit Officer since 2012. Desiree has served on the Montana State Bankers Board of Directors for several years, and in two years, will become the first female chair of the MBA in its 118 year history.

• MBA Immediate Past Chairman, Bill Bickle, graduated from Montana State University and the Pacific Coast Banking School. He was an examiner with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis for six years before joining Stockman Bank in 1987. He is a Director of Stockman Financial Corporation and continues with his family ranching corporation, Bickle Cattle Co. He continues to be a trustee of Miles Community College and Holy Rosary Healthcare.

• New MBA Board Member, Chuck Eble, is an experienced banker with approximately 27 years working in various lending and management roles for a wide range of banks in Montana. He started his career as a credit analyst with Norwest Bank in Billings in 1994. After graduating from the Norwest College of Commercial Credit in 1996, he moved into a commercial lending role before transferring to Kalispell. Chuck started a 19-year career with First Interstate Bank as a commercial loan officer in Whitefish in 1998 and then took over as the branch manager in Evergreen in 2000. He grew Evergreen into one of the top-performing branches within First Interstate BancSystem before being named President and CEO of Valley Bank of Kalispell in 2017.

About the Montana Bankers Association

The Montana Bankers Association brings together all categories of banking institutions to represent and serve the rapidly changing industry. Its membership - which includes community, regional and money center banks and holding companies, as well as trust companies and savings banks - makes MBA the largest banking trade association in Montana.

Learn more about the MBA at http://www.montanabankers.com.