Bohannon moving to new role as market president at First Interstate Bank

Zach Bohannon is returning to a field he knows well – banking. The Marion native is transitioning from his current role as director of strategy for Estes Construction to become the Cedar Rapids market president for First Interstate Bank. Mr. Bohannon said the timing of the transition is still to be determined as he wraps up his tenure with Estes, but that it would likely be complete by the end of March. Dave Parmley, the current market president for First Interstate, is retiring at the end of this year, and Mr. Bohannon said he’ll work closely with Mr. Parmley through a nine-month transition before assuming the full market president role by Dec. 31. Mr. Bohannon also said he’s aware that at age 32, he’ll be younger than many of his peers in banking leadership as he becomes a First Interstate Bank market president. “It’s extremely humbling,” Mr. Bohannon said. “I'm grateful for the opportunity to have someone like Dave Parmley, a veteran of the banking industry who is on the verge of retirement, to literally give me 40 years of knowledge that he's built up in the industry over a nine-month period. I could not have asked for a better opportunity to make that jump and to be set up for success. It's not just me getting thrown into the fire, which is what drew me to the opportunity – to be able to be groomed and mentored by someone that I think of in such high regard.” Mr. Bohannon has worked at Estes Construction since March 2021 and previously worked as a consultant with Rinderknecht Associates. He served as the project director for the development and construction of the new Marion YMCA and also led the fundraising campaign for the renovation of the African-American Museum of Iowa. Still, he said he knew his heart ultimately lay in the financial world. “I've always loved construction,” he said. “When I saw that the Marion YMCA literally took a piece of farm ground and built something that's packed every night, to see that go from an idea to reality, was awesome. So I thought, maybe there's something here in construction. And then the more I was with Estes and their owner and president, Kent Pilcher, I realized it’s just not (my) industry.  I was reading The Wall Street Journal and following the markets every day, and I realized (construction) is not truly my passion. Banking and finance are my passion.” In fact, Mr. Bohannon’s formal training and experience is predominantly in finance. After graduating from Linn-Mar High School in 2009, he began his educational career as an economics major at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, then transferred for basketball to the University of Wisconsin, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics in 2012, a master’s degree in political communication in 2013 and an MBA in finance in 2015. He then moved into the private banking realm, with stints at HSBC, Credit Suisse, and Heartland Bank and Trust's Iowa Advisory Board, before returning to Eastern Iowa to continue his professional development. He continues to serve as an intelligence officer with the Iowa Air National Guard, specializing in geopolitical strategy. The opportunity at First Interstate Bank came about after Mr. Bohannon had worked with Mr. Parmley on development projects. “Long story short, he asked if I was interested in banking,” Mr. Bohannon said. “I told him I wasn't, that I had already done that. Then over the last nine months, I did a bunch of interviews with the bank, including with (First Interstate Eastern Iowa market president) Melissa Schooley. She ended up getting me through the pipeline of all their bankers, and they offered me a position back in November or December. It was too good an opportunity to not make the move from Estes into banking and get back into my formal background.” Mr. Bohannon and his family are well-known in the Corridor and at Linn-Mar. He played basketball for two years at Wisconsin, earning Academic all-Big Ten honors in both seasons. His brother Jason also played for the Badgers. Brother Matt starred at the University of Northern Iowa. Another brother, Jordan, who played in 179 games over six seasons for the Iowa Hawkeyes, is now playing for the Iowa Wolves of the NBA’s G-League. And his father, Gordy, was a quarterback at Iowa, starting for the Hawkeyes in their 1982 Rose Bowl appearance. And while Mr. Bohannon said he appreciates that family legacy, he also relishes the opportunity to forge an independent professional path. “It definitely has been a big help,” he said of his family’s name recognition. “But Dave has mentioned, ‘I'm really proud of you not riding only on the back of your family name. You've built a name for yourself in the business world, and that's why we're pursuing you.’ It’s not because of (my) last name. Obviously that can help get some business, but it's not going to be a difference-maker like you might think it is. I’m excited for that.” First Interstate Bank, part of the First Interstate BancSystem, is a community bank headquartered in BIllings, Montana, with locations in 14 states in the western and Midwestern United States, including 46 branches in Iowa. In the Corridor, the bank has branches in Cedar Rapids and North Liberty. First Interstate reported just over $32 billion in total assets as of 2022 and has more than 2,300 employees.