American Bank Spotlight

Dan?Elsberry just became American Bank’s newest chief financial officer. For one of the bank’s? most celebrated young leaders, it’s a major accomplishment. But if you ask him, the most important thing is how he got here.

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When?Dan?joined American Bank eight years ago, his ambition wasn’t to become one of the youngest CFOs in the bank’s history. Far from it. All he truly wanted was to learn as much as he could from his longtime mentor Gordon Johnson, the bank’s CFO and president at the time.?

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A close family friend, Gordon had always been in?Dan’s life.?Dan?grew up admiring Gordon’s success and work ethic, and Gordon was always willing to give advice whenever it was needed.?But it wasn’t until?Dan?began studying accounting and finance in college when Gordon’s guidance became indispensable. When?Dan?was hired as an internal auditor at American Bank?after a few years in public accounting, their bond strengthened even more.

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Across the years, Gordon certainly taught?Dan?the hard skills of being a CFO for a bank. But perhaps the most important lesson was watching how Gordon made decisions.?

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“Gordon always took a step back and looked at a problem from all the different angles to make an educated decision,”?Dan?remembers. “I learned that the ‘easy’ answer isn’t always so easy. Every answer has multiple perspectives — the bank’s and the customer’s, the present and the future.”

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Dan?has taken Gordon’s wisdom and carved his own path with it. As his roles changed — from internal auditor to cashier to controller to senior vice president financial officer —?he developed an intuition for working with all different kinds of people through all different kinds of challenges. There were the Covid lockdowns, which challenged his team to learn how to work remotely through new digital platforms. There were the bank failures, and the ongoing effects of the rate shocks, that have helped?Dan?learn more about the bank’s relationships and the nuances of their investments.?

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Through it all, he’s learned the ins and outs of accounting, regulation, and capital planning. Just as significant, though, are the lessons he’s learned in leading a bank that supports its community. In?Dan’s own words:

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“Community banking is such a great business to be in. Growing up in a small Montana town, so many of the people that I knew and respected were bankers. They always provided a lot of support to my community. And you always feel the community bank presence no matter where you live.”

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Gordon stepped down as CFO a few years ago. And now, remarkably,?Dan?is stepping into the same role. He works in Gordon’s old office, and the space hasn’t changed much since his mentor was using it. It feels familiar. Comfortable. The chair is still warm, and the past is right here with him.??

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But the future is coming, and?Dan?is now charged with moving American Bank forward. He sees a world where independent community banking is as strong as ever. Making that world a certainty is his biggest goal. For American Bank’s newest CFO, it’s a privilege to be in such a position. And he takes none of it for granted.

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“I’ve been very fortunate for having worked with Gordon,”?Dan?says. “So a lot of the credit goes to him — and to VP Tyler Erickson and President Scott Mizner for believing in me.”

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