October 2-7, 2005
Cedar Rapids Marriott Hotel
The Iowa Commercial Lending School (CLS) is an intense one-week program that is held once a year in October. The purpose of the school is to prepare commercial lenders who have not been exposed to formal commercial lending education, or lenders who want to broaden their commercial lending knowledge, to serve effectively and profitably as commercial loan officers. In 2006 the school will celebrate its 33rd year of training Iowa Commercial Lenders.
The school week covers topics that all Commercial Lenders should know, beginning with The External Environment and ending with Credit Discipline. In addition, the students work on three case studies during the week.
Sunday, upon arrival, the students are given a pretest. This test does not go toward their final scores, but provides a benchmark of the knowledge they have when they arrive at the school.
(Gary Maples and a student discuss Commercial Lending Strategies)
The Iowa Commercial Lending School begins on Sunday afternoon with Gary Maples as the instructor. Gary, a former district president at M&I Bank in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, has been a lead instructor at the school since 1985. He has taught at commercial lending schools in Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. He currently serves as a section leader at the Graduate School of Banking in Madison, Wisconsin. This year, Gary was honored for his 20th year of teaching at the Iowa School.
(Board member, Ray Schwichtenberg, State Bank & Trust, Nevada, presents Gary Maples a plaque for his 20 years of service.)
(Students enjoying the first evenings pizza dinner on the hotel patio)
Monday morning, the day begins with The Typical Business, followed by Company Strategy and Evaluating Management. That evening, the students break up into small groups to begin work on their case studies.
The entire day on Tuesday is devoted to Historical Financial Analysis. Once again, the evening session is devoted to their case studies. On Wednesday, Gary continues with Historical Financial Analysis until noon. At that time, the school’s second instructor, Ann Kovich begins.
Ann is a Senior Vice President at M&I Bank in Madison, Wisconsin. She is a member of the Wisconsin Bankers Association Commercial Lending School Board of Directors, has been their School director and serves in its faculty as a core instructor. She has also served on the faculty of the South Eastern School of Commercial Lending and is lead instructor for the WBA Introduction to Commercial Lending Mini School.
Ann continues instructing the rest of the week with Projecting Future Performance, Loan Structure, Problem Loans, and Credit Discipline modules. One of the more interesting modules is Effective Relationship Management. The class is divided into teams, and has the responsibility of negotiating for an item. One team has the item and the other team has an undisclosed amount of money. As you can see from the attached photos, this module is a favorite for all the students.
At the end of the week, an election is held to select students from the class to serve on the advisory board. This year the following students were selected by their peers: Matt Wagner, Community National Bank, Waterloo, Clint Mikesell, Keokuk County State Bank, Signourney and Andy Sexton, Readlyn Savings Bank, Readlyn.
(Matt, Clint and Andy- new advisory board members)
In addition, the class is given a post test on all the material that has been presented during the week. In order to successfully complete the course, students must receive 70% or better on this exam. Everyone successfully completed the course, with five of those students graduating in the top 10 percent of their class. They were: Aaron Crabb, First National Bank, Sioux City; Joe Golinghorst, Walcott Trust & Savings Bank, Walcott; Mark Kruen, American State Bank, Hull; Troy VanderStouwe, Northwestern State Bank, Orange City; and Matt Wagner, Community National Bank, Waterloo.
(2005 Commercial Lending School Graduating Class)
The week is long and intense, but the hard work pays off with each individual taking home a greater knowledge of their industry and the Commercial Lending process. During the week, friendships have been made, and networking has been established with other students across the State.
The 2006 session will be held October 8-13, 2006 at the Cedar Rapids Marriott Hotel in Cedar Rapids. For additional information and registration forms on the Commercial Lending School, please contact Robbie Adelman, radelman@iowabnkers.com or 515-286-4375 at the Iowa Bankers Association.
2006 Registration Fees
Double Single No Housing
Member $1,400 $1,570 $1,325
Nonmember $1,800 $1,920 $1,675
Tuition includes registration, tuition, housing, meals and materials.
