Bell State Bank & Trust Purchases The Business Bank of Minneapolis

The Business Bank, based in Minneapolis, and its Prime Mortgage division are now officially part of Bell State Bank & Trust. Fargo, N.D.-based Bell State Bank & Trust purchased The Business Bank and Prime Mortgage on April 1, 2013, and the process of bringing those two companies under the Bell State Bank & Trust and Bell Mortgage umbrella is complete. The acquisition has combined Bell, the largest independently owned bank and mortgage company in Minnesota and the Dakotas, with another of the region’s largest privately held banking and mortgage companies. Bell State Bank & Trust president Michael Solberg says that the purchase has been a win-win situation from the start. “We look forward to many great years of growth and success,” Solberg said. “We are creating an even stronger banking and mortgage presence in our region and creating still more opportunities for growth.” The Business Bank was organized in Minnetonka, Minn., in 2000 with a focus on small business lending. Prime Mortgage was founded in 1986 and joined The Business Bank in 2007. Bell State Bank & Trust now has more than 1,000 employees at 20 full-service banking locations in Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo, Wahpeton, N.D., the Minnesota lakes area and in the Twin Cities; wealth management offices in Fargo, Bismarck and Boise, Idaho; and multiple Bell Mortgage offices in the Twin Cities metro area and Phoenix, Ariz. Chartered in 1966, the bank has assets totaling more than $2.6 billion.