Community First will buy Wyo. bank

LARAMIE – In the next few months, the sign on Laramie’s Key Bank will change to “Community First Bank,” but the faces inside the bank will remain the same.Laramie’s Key Bank is one of 28 branches of Wyoming’s largest bank company, KeyBank National Association (Wyoming), which will be acquired by Community First Bankshares Inc., of Fargo, N.D., later this year for $135 million.
Community First plans to retain all of Key’s 350 Wyoming employees and intends to add personnel in Wyoming, at its data center in Colorado and its headquarters in Fargo in order to support its new Wyoming operation. The new owner also will retain Key’s Wyoming district president, Randy Dancliff, to head its Wyoming operations.
“We believe that the sale of these offices to Community First represents a good fit for customers, employees, shareholders and our communities,” Dancliff said in a news release announcing the acquisition in Cheyenne. “Our staff will work diligently over the coming months to ensure a seamless transition for everyone involved.”
Community First president and CEO Donald R. Mengedoth said his company will bring “the best of both worlds” to Wyoming by providing a “unique mix of financial strength and a strong sense of local autonomy that enables loan decisions to be made close to home.”
“Community First has built its reputation on our ability to provide superior banking services in small- and medium-sized communities, like those served by Key in Wyoming,” Mengedoth said.
Community First has assets of $3.1 billion and with the acquisition of KeyBank’s Wyoming assets of $1.2 billion will have total assets in excess of $4 billion. It was formed in 1987 with 21 banking locations in three states and currently operates community banks in 79 markets in Colorado, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska.
It has been publicly held since 1991 and is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol CFBX. Its Web site is at www.cfbx.com.
Community First’s Colorado locations include Sterling, Fort Morgan, Holyoke, Boulder, Louisville and the Denver metro area.#
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