Mar 15, 2001

SBA NAMES KEVIN TENPAS FINANCIAL SERVICES ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

MILWAUKEE: - The U.S. Small Business Administration has named Kevin Tenpas, President of Heartland Business Bank, the Wisconsin 2001 Financial Services Advocate of the Year. Tenpas, 43, is known throughout Wisconsin for his creative approaches to helping small businesses obtain financing using SBA and other government-assisted lending programs. Within a year and a half, under his leadership, Heartland Business Bank helped small business clients that have over $100 million in credit needs and commitments. That volume includes more than $6 million in SBA loans. As a result, the bank ranked 7th out of 342 Wisconsin financial institutions this year. One of his strategies was to organize the bank to include onsite credit staff as well as local SBA loan processing, which many traditional banks had eliminated. He has helped create many success stories by properly structuring balance sheets to serve long-term requirements as well as short-term needs.

"The partnerships we've been able to develop, in particular with SBA to assist small business, have been very rewarding," Tenpas said. "We hope to be the leading government guarantee lender in Wisconsin in the near future." Tenpas was nominated by John Opichka, Executive Director of Urban Hope, the faith-based ministry created by Reggie and Sara White, which empowers and revitalizes people and their communities through entrepreneurship. Tenpas serves as treasurer of that group.

"Kevin co-founded Heartland Business Bank to implement his own personal values, philosophies and vision to create a banking niche to servicing small businesses," Opichka said in his nomination letter. "He understands and meets the unique needs of small business clients to establish a foundation for a long-term mutually beneficial partnership with them."

Tenpas spent nine years of his banking career at Firstar Bank from 1990 to 1999 as a Vice President of Commercial Lending. In 1995, he was named First Vice President and Sales Manager of Commercial Lending at Firstar Bank Green Bay. The following year, he was named Green Bay Market President and Commercial Manager of the $560 million Northeast Region. He joined Heartland Business Bank in 1999. Tenpas was instrumental in establishing the Main Street Program for Sheboygan Falls in 1988. He was later appointed by Gov. Tommy Thompson to serve a three-year term on the Council on Main Street Programs, which encourages and supports revitalization of downtowns in Wisconsin communities. He is also chairman of Advance, the economic development arm of the Green Bay Chamber of Commerce, which serves Brown County. Heartland Business Bank specializes in financing for small to medium-sized companies in Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and eastern Minnesota. It has offices in Sheboygan, Green Bay and Eau Claire and is one of the top five government-guaranteed lenders statewide.