PremierBank, as part of a yearlong celebration, according to a recent news release, will be hosting a networking event in honor of its 160th anniversary.
The networking event will be held tonight at the bank’s downtown Fort Atkinson location, 70 North Main St., between 5 and 7 p.m.
According to information released by the bank, the event is “a multi-chamber networking activity, and includes participation through the Fort Atkinson Area, Whitewater Area and Jefferson chambers of commerce.
The release noted that members of each organization have been invited to attend “a short program to commence at 6 p.m.”
The program will include remarks from the Wisconsin Bankers Association President and CEO Rose Oswald Poels, who, the release read, “will visit from Madison, to acknowledge PremierBank’s founding and impact on the communities it serves.”
Some bank history
According to the release, PremierBank was originally organized by Fort Atkinson attorney Lucien B. Caswell, who invited a group of prominent, local community members to raise money to form a bank in the fall of 1863. The group met at Caswell’s law office, in downtown Fort Atkinson, 160 years ago this month, on Oct. 8. The group of investors pooled their holdings together and petitioned the comptroller of currency in Washington D.C. for permission to receive one of the first national bank charters in the nation. President Abraham Lincoln signed the documents and the new bank, named “First National Bank,” was one of the first 50 national banks in the United States.
The release noted that through the years the bank has changed its name as it has grown alongside its communities. First National Bank was renamed “First American Bank and Trust Co.” in 1975 to reflect the addition of its trust department formed in the 1970s, and, in 1999, after the acquisition of another community bank, the bank’s name changed again to “PremierBank.”
PremierBank is today a full-service bank with locations in three south-central Wisconsin counties: Jefferson, Rock, and Walworth, the release continued.
Members of the public interested in joining the chambers are encouraged to register for the event.
For more information about the multi-chamber event, or to register to attend, contact the Fort Atkinson Area Chamber of Commerce at 920-563-3210.
PremierBank, contributed photo.
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