This is an excerpt from a column posted at BizOpinion
Taking a bank public isn’t an easy task.
Just ask Tim Schneider, chief executive officer and co-founder at Investors Community Bank in Manitowoc. The bank, which focuses primarily on agriculture and commercial deals, launched a successful initial public offering in January.
Taking Investors Community Bank public was viewed as a way to help the bank, which also has a branch in Stevens Point and three lending offices, get to the next level by increasing the amount of available capital, Schneider says.
“It’s been a strategic goal of ours for the past several years to find an acquisition and the public offering provided us with access to additional capital,” he says. “By going public, we’ve also increased the accessibility of people to buy our stock and expand our investor pool.”
The stock trades on the NASDAQ exchange under the ICBK symbol. As for the stock, it’s been trading in the $18 to $19 range, which Schneider says was expected. In mid-August, The Motley Fool even recommended buyers check out the stock as one of the top two banks “growing like weeds.”