Photograph by Shane Van Boxtel/Image Studios
As Travis Froze approaches his five-year anniversary with First Business Bank, he steps into a new role as president of its Northeast Wisconsin market.
The Neenah native has his sights set on growing community and clients at the $3.5 billion business-focused bank.
Insight: Tell us about your background and how you got into commercial banking.
Froze: I graduated from UW Oshkosh in December 1996. Prior to graduating, I already had a job with Norwest Financial, which was high-interest-rate consumer loans. I did that for approximately 18 months. Due to the struggle of charging people 39% interest rates, I figured [it was] not quite what I wanted to do. I went to Associated Bank as a credit analyst in their business banking department. I took a pay cut, but in my mind I was looking for a career that would be fulfilling for a long time to come. And if I look back on that decision, it was a very good decision. For three and a half years, I cut my teeth learning the ins and outs. There were three people at Associated Bank who truly taught me a lot over the eight years that I was there and really made the foundation to allow me to advance in my career, not only at Associated Bank, but to advance at M&I into BMO and now at First Business Bank. My career has basically been spent in commercial banking, helping clients with revenues from $5 million to $100 million in a variety of different industries.
What appealed to you about this work?
Within banking, there are a variety of different functions that are extremely important, but the one that was kind of intriguing was commercial banking. My degree is in marketing economics, so it’s not even in finance or accounting. As I started to hone my financial and analytical skills, I understood accounting better and my business acumen increased. I truly now enjoy the conversations that I have with clients. I like the challenge of trying to figure out how I can best help them. As much as my job is to provide them with loans and deposits, I really want to be strategic with them and help them succeed.
You’ve been president of the Northeast Wisconsin market as of June 1. What are your main focuses as you settle into your role?
At First Business Bank, the culture is about putting people first. I was taught in my early career that if you have happy employees, you’ll have happy clients. And I truly believe that. People are assets. I know that’s not what it says on the balance sheet, but it’s the people — you have long-standing employees; you have long-standing clients. It all kind of works hand in hand. For the next 90 days, my two main focuses are employees and existing clients, as well as creating a cadence for my day-to-day routine and my month-to-month routine. Right now, my No. 1 priority is making sure that I get to know everyone on the team better and really understand what they’re trying to accomplish in their careers and their personal lives so that I can be an advocate and a conduit to help them achieve their goals. And then the other piece is I really need to get out and meet all of our clients, thank them for their business and get to understand their business to make sure that we’re doing our best to help them be successful.
Who are your clients?
In Northeast Wisconsin, 20% of our population is in some way tied to the manufacturing world. If you looked at the national average, I think we’re at about 9% nationally. Clearly, we make things in Northeast Wisconsin. A good portion of our loan portfolio or client portfolio would be indicative of a lot of manufacturers. We also have service industry and contract industry [clients]. We have municipalities, school districts, nonprofits, and then we also dabble in some investment‑owned real estate. We’re selective in where we do that, but it is a piece of our portfolio as well. We have three locations in Wisconsin and one location in Kansas City. We have a Madison office, our Milwaukee office and the Appleton office. The thought process of our original founder [Jerry Smith] was to make sure that we didn’t necessarily invest in brick and mortar, but that we invested in people and technology. To have that thought process 33 years ago was forward-thinking.
What are the most satisfying parts of your job?
One is watching generational transitions. It’s not always a smooth process when you have an owner that has been there for 30 to 40 years. That is their baby and they’ve put sweat and tears into it, and now they’re handing it off to the next generation. It’s hard to let go. That transition takes anywhere from six months to two or three years to occur. And also watching a client grow is very satisfying. I’ve helped a company grow from a small business with a few employees to a $25 million company with 100 employees. I always say our success is dependent on our clients’ success. If they’re successful, we’re successful, so we’re trying to do everything possible to make sure they can succeed. We also understand that business is not a linear equation where it’s just all straight up at a nice little 45-degree angle. It’s a roller coaster ride of peaks and valleys, and we need to make sure that we’re there to support them during the good times and during the bad times. It’s never a zero sum game. We truly want to be more than just a loan or a deposit. We really are invested in their success.
