Peter Stenehjem is back for his second appearance. He is CEO of First International Bank & Trust, a fourth-generation family bank founded in 1910 that now operates in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Arizona at about $6.5 billion in assets. It took the bank 100 years to reach its first billion, in 2010. Stenehjem took over from his father in 2025. He answers the “how do you stay relevant” question in football terms: a disciplined offense. That means core deposits, selective loan growth, protected margins, and growth only when it’s profitable. On people, the rule is the one his grandfather and father used: hire for attitude, train for skill, and let people make decisions, even wrong ones, as long as they adapt fast. He also explained the bank’s two less typical lines. One is a payments subsidiary that he says moved about $125 billion across 60 million transactions last year. The other is a mineral management and reserves-based lending practice that came out of the bank’s western North Dakota roots
Byron
Fourth Generation, $6.5 Billion: Peter Stenehjem on Staying Relevant
about the author
Byron
Byron Earnheart is the Programming Director for the Barret School of Banking in Memphis, TN and the host of the “Main Street
Banking” podcast…the only podcast solely devoted to community banks. He has over 15 years experience in the financial
services industry; 11 of which have been in banking in various roles from teller work to branch management. He spends his time
playing guitar and singing in Delta Heart (the “house band of the Mississippi Delta”), writing music, cooking, reading, and
enduring the University of Tennessee Volunteers athletic seasons. He is married to his wife Kelly of 11 years and has two
children, John Aubrey (11) and Mary Laura (7).
If you'd like to hear Byron's music, check him out on Spotify:
Other posts by this author