FNBO is a charter Accredited Business of BBB because of two key words, trust and ethics.
“It validates to all the communities that we operate in that we value trust and ethics as an organization,” said Nathan Ewert, regional vice-president of FNBO, changed from First National Bank of Omaha in 2020.
FNBO is an independent, family-owned bank founded in 1857 in Omaha, Neb., kept in the family for six generations and now led by CEO and President Clark Lauritzen. A regional bank, FNBO has 25 locations in Colorado and approximately 100 across eight Midwest states.
“The fact we have been able to weather many, many—whether it’s recessions or different types of economic—storms, it’s a testament to the family and its fortitude to maintain and survive and to thrive and grow,” Ewert said.
FNBO is a community-oriented bank. FNBO’s motto is “The great big, small bank,” Ewert said.
“Our success is determined internally by our customers,” Ewert said. “What makes us unique is the fact that we are extremely relationship-based, and we don’t look at things in a standard matrix. We can be flexible.”
FNBO’s services include commercial and business banking, consumer and retail banking, wealth management and trust services, mortgage lending, treasury services and merchant services—it also issues debit and credit cards.
FNBO joined the BBB Serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming during its founding year in 1983.
“It really does make me proud and humbled to be on the ground floor of an organization such as the BBB, and how it promotes ethics in the marketplace,” Ewert said. “It’s not old-fashioned. It’s not the flavor of the month, but the differentiator of business and how we want to operate.”
Being a BBB Accredited Business has several benefits like enhancing reputation—it’s more meaningful when an outside organization says a business is ethical and trustworthy than the business making the claim, Ewert said.
BBB Accreditation helps grow a business, since customers check the BBB website for reputable businesses and likely will choose those listed, Ewert said. BBB Accredited Businesses can receive feedback from a neutral party about improving operations and get help mediating and resolving any disagreements or disputes with customers, so that they can pivot or make adjustments, he said.
“People searching for products and services will be more inclined to pick or choose to do business with you,” Ewert said. “People are going to choose you before a business that’s not affiliated with the BBB.”
FNBO was one of the title sponsors of BBB’s Torch Awards for Ethics, presented April 27 at Embassy Suites Loveland to businesses and nonprofits embodying the ethics and standards that the BBB promotes.
“We are supportive of the BBB, and the Torch Awards specifically, because it’s aligned with the bank’s values,” Ewert said. “It supports local businesses that put ethics and trust at the forefront of everything they do, and that aligns with the bank’s values.
Ewert gave one of the speeches at the awards event, reinforcing FNBO’s and BBB’s key values of community-centered, culture, character and customers.
“I value the fact that trust and ethics will always be paramount no matter the place, time or industry,” Ewert said. “It’s one of those things, no matter the industry, whether it’s banking or roofing or plumbing or whatever, the notion of a credible, ethical business is always going to be at the core of consumers choosing to do business with you.”
As such in the banking industry, banks are in the business of taking risks and part of that risk is looking at the character of individuals and businesses, Ewert said.
“That’s why it resonates with me so much,” Ewert said.
Ewert joined the BBB board of directors in 2020 and became treasurer two years ago, wanting to give back to his community—Ewert lives in Loveland.
“The synergy BBB has with the community and with our local businesses in Northern Colorado and Wyoming is very much like that of the bank,” Ewert said. “Trust and ethics to a bank, at its most simplest form, is you do what you say you’re going to do, and that, to me, is a big part of trust and ethics. When you establish that, people see that and know you have their best interest at heart. That starts to build that reputation very quickly.”
Ewert has worked in the banking industry for 27 years, the last four at FNBO, and has a MBA from Loyala University Chicago. He previously worked for a large, multinational bank and a small bank before joining FBNO, where he oversees the region of Colorado, Wyoming and Western Nebraska. He is primarily responsible for the commercial banking team with seven direct reports with 50 bankers.
“Ultimately, our job is helping customers to achieve their goals and objectives,” Ewert said. “In commercial banking, we get to see projects and businesses that we finance come to life. That makes an impact on our community and the place we call home.”