Pub. 7 2019 Issue 3

6 The Community Banker www.mibonline.org AMERICAN BANK Featured Member Bank A merican Bank is a locally owned and operated Montana bank with branch- es in Bozeman, Livingston, Whitefish, Big Timber and Big Sky. We're proud to have served Montanans for more than 70 years. Claude R. Erickson founded Livingston State Bank in June of 1947. Claude was known for his firm handshake and his favorite saying, "Shake the hand of the honest man." At this time the branch was located in a small space on 2nd St in Livingston. After acclimating to the community, the bank relocated to a better location on Main Street in 1956. At the time, it was the first bank in Montana to have the time and temperature featured on its sign. Claude would like to say, “Come bank at the sign of time and temperature”. In that day and age, to have the temperature conveniently displayed was cutting edge technology. Claude was known to have fun with customers guessing the high and low temperatures every week. In November of 1964, the bank’s holding company, Guaranty Development Company, was formed. A few years later in 1966, Liv- ingston State Bank changed its name to First Security Bank of Livingston and opened its first branch building. The modern design and white travertine exterior is still celebrated to this day. Two tag lines that were preva- lent at the time were, “We are between 2nd and Main and 2nd to none”, and “Dedicated to progress”. With regards to dedicated to progress, the bank opened a state of the art drive up addition that had five drive up lanes. During the time of the railroad boom in Livingston, the new drive up was said to be a center of attention and electrifying. In 1978, Claude hired his son Bruce A. Erick- son. Within a few months Claude and Bruce purchased First State Bank of Big Timber- shortly thereafter the name was also changed to First Security Bank. In February of 1983, the bank acquired Western State Bank of Billings and renamed the branch American Bank that November. The other two branches names remained the same. In 1992, the bank purchased Interwest Bank in Bozeman. Upon this purchase all four branches were officially renamed American Bank. A few years later, in 1995, American Bank opened its first Whitefish location. Shortly thereafter, in 1997, American Bank sold its Billings branch. This created the op- portunity to open the Big Sky branch in 1999, and the second Bozeman location on East Main Street in 2000. The East Main branch has something you don’t see very often, a red 1961 MGA parked inside the branch. This was a car that Bruce and his son Tyler enjoyed, but due to a few mechanical issues the decision was made to put it on display. In 2003, American Bank opened its new Whitefish branch at the corner of 2nd and Baker Avenue. For a short period of time there were two branches in Whitefish, and by July of 2003, we transitioned into the larger branch. In 2008, like father like son, Bruce hired his son Tyler. Just as Bruce did in 1978, he worked in the teller line in the Livingston community where it all started. To help celebrate our 20th anniversary in Big Sky, we will be moving our Big Sky branch to a new larger location in the Meadow Vil- lage. We are thrilled to enhance our presence in the Big Sky community and look forward to this new exciting chapter. American Bank is still owned by the Erickson’s, the same family who opened Livingston State Bank in 1947. Claude’s grandchildren Tyler B. Erickson and Taylor A. Wortman are both on the board of directors, and Tyler still works in at the bank today. We remain dedicated to caring for our custom- ers, employees and communities. Our core competencies have remained unchanged over all these years. We specialize in high touch relationship banking with a focus on responsiveness and precision. Our specialties are commercial, business, construction and aviation lending. Our retail style is light on fees, competitive on rates with an empha- sis on hands on service. At American Bank we will always be dedicated to progress, implementing new innovative products and systems that allow our bankers to be more efficient and move at the pace of our custom- ers. At American Bank we are employee cen- tric and believe all of our employees are an integral part of the family owned approach to banking. Here at American Bank you will truly know who your banker is. We will always be focused on what is best for our communities and what is best for our customers. We are indebted to the communities we serve and will continue to support and lend a hand for many years to come.