Flanagan State Bank was founded in 1913. When the bank was formed there were 38 original shareholders and a capitalization of $25,000. Flanagan is located between Interstates 55 and 39 on Route 116, about 11 miles west of Pontiac, Illinois and 30 miles north northeast of Bloomington-Normal.

Henry "Hank" Schwerin was born in 1902 in Buck Creek, Iowa, the oldest of eleven children. He attended Wartburg College in nearby Waverly and moved to Flanagan, Illinois to join Flanagan State Bank after graduation. He worked as a cashier in his first years at the bank. Hank and his father-in-law, Henry Koopman, gained majority interest in the bank in 1938. The Schwerin family, which first came to the Midwestern United States by boat from Germany in the mid 1880's, has been involved in the bank since Hank came aboard in 1920. In 1967, Hank's son Paul took over as president.

Under Paul Schwerin's leadership, Flanagan State Bank built and opened its current main office, located on Main Street in Flanagan, in 1970. Paul got the idea for thebank's distinctive white façade in the late 1960's when he noticed a new bank building in Bonduel, Wisconsin on his way to go fishing in northeastern Wisconsin. He claims to have caught trout on that trip as well, but never produced any photographic evidence to that effect. Paul was very active in the economic development of Flanagan and was instrumental in bringing a number of businesses to the town.

The bank grew from approximately $4 million in assets in 1967 to over $34 million in 1995 under Paul's stewardship. Three of Paul's six children are involved with the bank today - Kent Schwerin, Audrey Harlan, and Matthew Schwerin.

Current Generation

Kent Schwerin joined the bank in 1987 after working for the State of Illinois as a bank examiner and working at Citizens State Bank of Cropsey. In 1995 he succeeded his father as president. He is Chairmanof the Flanagan State Bank Board of Directors and Treasurer of Hometown Financial Group, Inc.

Audrey Harlan is executive vice president of the bank. Audrey works in the El Paso branch and besides her duties as personal banker and lender, she handles compliance and bank operations. Audrey is secretary of Flanagan State Bank board of directors and also serves on the board of directors of Hometown Financial Group, Inc. Kent and Audrey have guided the bank's growth to over $100 million in assets (2006).

Matthew Schwerin is President of CAPS Financial Group, an affiliate of Flanagan State Bank. Matthew also contributes to the bank by handling marketing programs and special projects. He also serves on the bank Board of Directors and is President of Hometown Financial Group, Inc.

Hank, Paul and their descendents have had stewardship over the bank since 1938. The current generation of Hank's family, mostly his grandchildren, hear repeated stories of how Hank and his son Paul helped people at important times in their lives. As they tell the stories, it is evident that the relationships they had with their bank and banker were very important in their lives.

An Old Story

A story from over 50 years ago is a good illustration of Hank's way of doing things. One day a young boy showed up in his office after his dog had been killed in an accident, wanting to take out a $25 loan for a new puppy. Hank didn't make the normal response of calling the boy's dad (the local minister) to ask him to handle the situation. Instead he called in his secretary to draw up the proper papers, which the boy solemnly signed. The boy paid the note himself, a little at a time, and Hank never told his dad.

Agriculture

The bank became a leader in the modernization of agriculture in the 1950's, when it partnered with Howard Cotter to research and promote modern farming practices. Howard, the agriculture teacher at Flanagan High School, began providing free soil testing services from his garage with the help of the Flanagan State Bank. The Ag Plot Meetings of the early 1960's, where different hybrids were compared scientifically, were heavily attended and spread quickly through the Midwest. During this time Mr. Cotter and the bank promoted a variety of other new practices such as planting higher seed populations and increasing soil fertility.

Agriculture is still extremely important to Flanagan State Bank. Our agricultural lenders, Rich Ritter and Doug Raber, work closely with our customers as they analyze both historical and projected cash flows to assist our farmers in their decision making. Rich and Doug also make numerous summer farm visits to help determine plant populations, scout for pests, and project yields in order to update their projections. They are truly hands-on lenders and provide a valuable service for our farm customers.

Albrecht Trust and St. James Hospital

One of the most significant issues the bank has dealt with over the years was the John W. Albrecht Trust. Mr. Albrecht was an area farmer who owned about 2,800 acres of farmland in Livingston County. He passed away in 1977 with no close relatives, and left his entire estate in trust to build a hospital or nursing home facility in the area. The bank carefully considered the available options and chose the St. James-OSF Hospital in Pontiac, Illinois as the beneficiary. After surviving a court challenge from other potential beneficiaries, the bank managed the trust for the required period of time and ended up donating over $16,000,000 to St. James-OSF Hospital in the 1999-2000 time frame. The beautiful new St. James-OSF John W. Albrecht Memorial Hospital now stands on the west side of Interstate 55 just off Route 116 near Pontiac.

Expansion

The Bank opened its first new branch in El Paso in 1996 and moved into a newly constructed building in July of 1997. In early 1999 we opened our Benson office, located in a former lumber and paint store. Our Bloomington branch opened in 2003 and relocated to our current building in September of 2004. We then opened our Le Roy branch in December of 2005, and it is scheduled to move into a newly constructed building in late spring, 2007.

What We Offer Today

These days the Bank offers many services in addition to agricultural lending and trust service, including a wide variety of residential mortgages, a full range of business banking products such as remote deposit, and no-commission investment management and financial planning through an affiliate, CAPS Financial Group.

Many things change as the decades pass, but whether we use a quill pen or the latest in modern technology; the goal of our bank is to serve each of our customers in the same thoughtful, personal, and confidential way as Hank Schwerin did the young boy many years ago.

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