George Joins Merchants Bank As Branch President

Wade George joined Merchants Bank as branch president in August of this year. He brought 20 plus years of lending experience, and a graduate degree in banking, to Merchants Bank upon acceptance of the position. Although George has spent some years away from the area, he is happy to call eastern Montana home.

In 1996, George began his career at a bank in Forsyth, MT as ag loan representative. From there, he assumed a similar position in Scobey in 2000, before he returned to his hometown of Glendive, MT in 2003 in order to manage Heritage Bank. George's specific passion for a community driven, or "small town", bank was very apparent as Heritage Bank transitioned into US Bank and he realized it was not the career path he wished to stay on.

Belle Fourche called George to South Dakota with a position as an ag/commercial lender at First Interstate Bank, where he was presented with an opportunity a short time later that allowed him to relocate to Buffalo, SD in 2011. While there, George attended the Colorado School of Banking and graduated in 2015. The educational growth he experienced allowed him to assume the position of Manager in 2017, but career motivation was not the only thing that kept George in Buffalo.

This small town in South Dakota was an ideal place to raise a family, in the opinion of George and his wife (circa 1997), Bobbi. Their oldest son, Jake, graduated from high school and left Buffalo to attend Dickinson State University and play football. Their youngest son, however, moved to Fairview with Wade and Bobbi as a senior in high school, in the fall of 2020. Between Jake's role in college football and Garrett's participation in various high school sports, the Georges spend most of their time keeping up with their sons. When down time occurs, George prefers being at the lake or helping friends with projects.

George's focus is on ag lending but also has extensive commercial lending experience. "In small communities you tend to wear lots of hats," he stated.

He is excited to back in Montana in his new role at Merchants Bank. "I look forward to serving the Fairview community and helping the farmers, ranchers and business people in the area.

Stop by or call Merchants Bank in Fairview today for all your banking and lending needs.