The South Dakota Bankers Association recently held elections for three of the 10 seats on its Board of Directors. Elected to serve on the SDBA Board of Directors were:
- Cameron Becker, President and Chief Credit Officer, Rivers Edge Bank, Marion
- Todd Christoffer, Chief Credit Officer and South Dakota Division President, First National Bank, Rapid City (formerly of Pierre)
- Terry Fitzke, Chief Lending Officer, BankWest, Pierre
This is Becker, Christoffer, and Fitzke’s first term on the SDBA Board of Directors. They started their three-year terms on May 1, 2023.
Terry Fitzke:
Terry Fitzke is currently the Chief Lending Officer for BankWest, Inc. and is based in Pierre, SD. He has served in this role since 2021. Prior to becoming the CLO, Terry was a Regional President for BankWest for 17 years. As Regional President, Terry was responsible for the banking functions at multiple locations in central South Dakota. During this tenure, he managed eleven direct reports with a total staff of up to fifty. As Chief Lending Officer, Terry’s responsibilities include working with Executive Management, providing leadership and overall direction in Business Banking activities including agricultural lending. Daily involvement with the business banking/production aspect as well as working to assure consistency in process and customer service across the various production lines.
Currently, Terry serves on the Avera Health Pooled Investment Committee and the Avera Health Investment Committee. Terry was recently the Avera St. Mary’s Healthcare Center’s Board Chairman for five years and a board member for eleven years.
Terry lives in Pierre and is married to Amy. Together, they have a blended family of five children: Tanner (Jamie), Travis (Sydney), Sadie (Allen), Kortney (Eric), Kelsey (Tanner). Terry and Amy also have eight grandchildren.
Fitzke plans to work in cooperation with fellow board members to assure that the focus of the association stays on the current path to promote the general welfare of and usefulness of South Dakota banking institutions. South Dakota Bankers Association’s priority is the success of its membership by providing advocacy, education, communications, networking, and products and services. Terry will continue to support this plan as he works to support the member banks in South Dakota and specifically those in Group IV.
Todd Christoffer:
Todd Christoffer, formerly of Pierre, is the Chief Credit Officer and South Dakota Division President of First National Bank. He began his career with First National Bank in 1987 as a teller and returned in 2001 as the branch president of the bank’s Rapid City location. In his current role, Todd oversees the bank’s $1.1B loan program, including commercial, agricultural, consumer and residential lending, as well as operations of its 16 branches and over 130 employees. He currently serves on the bank’s Board of Directors, Executive Management Committee, Regional Loan Committee, and ALCO. He has also served on the SDBA legislative committee for the past 2 years. First National Bank has consistently been a top performing bank in South Dakota as well as nationally. Todd has led several major initiatives to streamline operations, increase consistency in review and underwriting processes, reduce regulatory risk and achieve operating efficiencies. He played an integral role in expanding the bank’s footprint into Northern Colorado by managing the due diligence and conversion of a bank acquisition. Todd is a graduate of the University of South Dakota’s School of Business as well as ABA’s Commercial Lending and Compliance schools.
As a 22-year resident of Rapid City, Todd has been very active in local organizations serving on the boards of the Black Hills Community Economic Development, Junior Achievement and Elevate Rapid City as well as other community organizations and non-profits.
Todd and his wife, Brandi (LeBeau) Christoffer have 3 adult children. Their oldest son Tristan (25) is a Sergeant in the US Army and resides in Fort Bragg, NC; their daughter Taryn (21) will graduate from SDSU school of nursing in the Fall, and their youngest son Ty (18) just graduated from Rapid City Stevens HS and is enlisting in the Army Rangers OSUT training in Fort Benning, GA later this year. In addition to their children, they have two German Shorthaired Pointers that are part of the family.
Christoffer’s goals as a director are to continue to serve as an advocate for the banking industry in South Dakota by working with the State’s elected officials on legislation that effects banking, promoting the health and safety of South Dakota’s banks to the public, and support our vendors development of innovative products and services that are competitive with non-bank financial service companies.
Cameron Becker:
Cameron Becker began his banking career in 2002 and is currently the President and Chief Credit Officer at Rivers Edge Bank. Cam also serves on the bank’s Board of Directors and the Bank Holding Companies Board of Directors. He is a graduate of the University of South Dakota and the Graduate School of Banking-Colorado.
Cam was born and raised in Marion and has been involved in many areas of the Marion community.
Becker enjoys hunting, boating, fishing, and spending time with his wife, Jennifer, and two children, Paige and Vaun.
His goals as an SDBA Director are to become more educated and more engaged in the advocacy of the banking industry at both the state and federal levels.
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