Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust leaders and community supporters gathered Thursday, April 3 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for CRBT’s newest office facility, as the 20th anniversary of the opening of CRBT’s main bank building in downtown Cedar Rapids nears.
The new three-story, 34,000-square-foot office building is at 116 Sixth St. NE, just east of the main CRBT office, on land previously used for a parking lot. The facility, with an estimated $19 million capital investment, currently houses 44 bank employees, with the capacity to house a total of 109 workers.
CRBT will be the sole tenant of the new facility.
“This space is so much more than just a building,” said CRBT president James Klein. ”It’s our commitment to Cedar Rapids, to being local, to being good partners. In good times and in rough times, you can count on CRBT to be the place where people connect and make things happen.”
Mr. Klein thanked project partners, including OPN Architects, Rinderknecht Construction and union workers, along with the 200 “CRBT-ers,” for their efforts, and noted the importance of being a locally-owned bank for CRBT’s 20,000 clients.
“We’re not just a bank, we are a community bank, and the word community says it all,” Mr. Klein said. “it’s more than transactions. It’s about relationships, trust, helping the entire boat rise so we can all do better. Community is about what we are. It’s about showing up, listening and growing together.”
Mr. Klein also honored Larry Helling, who has led CRBT since its founding in 2001. In February, Mr. Helling announced his intention to retire as the CEO of CRBT and QCR Holdings, effective May 22. Mr. Klein will assume the the role of both president and CEO of CRBT after Mr. Helling’s retirement.
“He was the guy that had the idea on a notepad in his desk, over 25 years ago, to start a community bank in our area,” Mr. Klein said of Mr. Helling. “Without Larry and his belief in community banking and a lot of courage to take a risk, none of us would be here today.”
Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said CRBT and its leaders “truly represent what Cedar Rapids is about – that independence, that entrepreneurship, taking a chance with a couple of people to start a community bank and then truly becoming a community bank, not just for this community, but beyond.”
Ms. O’Donnell said during a recent coffee meeting with Mr. Klein, the two were approached by a longtime Cedar Rapids resident who thanked CRBT for its local commitment.
“He said, ‘congratulations on what you’re doing. You’re the new Merchants,’” Ms. O’Donnell said, referring to the iconic Merchants National Bank, or MNB, which operated in downtown Cedar Rapids from 1926 to 1991.
“Anybody who’s from here understands Merchants,” Ms. O’Donnell said. “Merchants and Cedar Rapids were synonymous. I saw a little bit of maybe a little dust in the air, but it really spoke to Larry’s vision and others who transitioned this bank, building on a history, recognizing a legacy, and making sure that it’s good for people today and into the future.”
Mr. Klein concurred.
“As a lifelong Cedar Rapidian, when somebody said they were going to the bank, you just knew they were going to Merchants National Bank,” he said.
Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance executive director Doug Neumann noted that in a time when fewer businesses are headquartered in Cedar Rapids than in the past, it’s important to have a locally-owned bank.
“When the decision-makers, the check-writers, the headquarters is in your hometown, it can be so much more impactful,” Mr. Neumann said.
Mr. Neumann also highlighted the location of the new facility, on a highly-visible lot near the gateway to downtown Cedar Rapids.
“It is now an impressive, incredible building that really says something about our community, as so many visitors get their very first impression about the entire community from this stretch,” Mr. Neumann said. “To all of you contractors and subcontractors. I hope you’re proud to go past this and be like ‘we built that, we were part of that.’ What a high visibility project that you get to point to as what you do as companies and what you bring to the success of all of this.”
Mr. Klein added that when traveling across the United States, he’s often asked about “what it’s like being a community bank” in Cedar Rapids.
“There’s no better place in the country to be a community bank than in this area,” Mr. Klein said. “People here value relationships. People here value local, helping one another, and I’ve seen it time and time again in my 50-plus years of living here, that when things get tough, we all come together and we do the right thing.”
