First National Bank named Lender of the Year

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – A Sioux Falls bank has been recognized for the work they do to help small businesses.

In the 2024 fiscal year, First National Bank gave out 25 loans totaling over 8 and a half million dollars to support small businesses in the Sioux Falls area.

“We are incredibly proud of our teammates that work and invest a ton and ton of time with small business clients,” Jeremy Keckler, a business banking manager at First National Bank, said. “One of the things our bankers do, I think, a really good job is help plug those small business owners into the community, into the business community.”

Because of that work, First National Bank was named Lender of the Year by the South Dakota District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

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“The SBA has been a tremendous partner along the way and there’s a number of organizations that help promote small business lending in Sioux Falls,” Keckler said. “We’re incredibly fortunate to operate in this business environment, it’s about as good as a business environment as you could.”

This is the fourth time First National Bank has won a lending award and Keckler says supporting small businesses is a huge part of who they are as a company.

“Small business is kind of our lifeblood in not only the community of Sioux Falls but also our bank,” Keckler said. “We were founded on a small business banking platform and then have done a ton of small ag lending and small business lending. So it’s kind of the backbone of our bank as well.”

And supporting small businesses means supporting economic growth.

“Small business, you know, they continue to produce about two out of three job creations in the United States year over year and they’re responsible for about half of our GDP,” Keckler said. “So it’s a really, really important community.”

This Lender of the Year Award was given to First National Bank because they closed the most small business loans and had the highest dollar value of small business loans in the state.