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“We focus on establishing deep trust with our clients and meaningful relationships and providing a higher level of service than they would get at other banks,” said Ryan Sahd, regional president of Colorado for Union Bank & Trust. “Banking products and services are pretty ubiquitous, give or take some nuances here and there. The biggest thing is the experience the clients get and the type of service they get.”
The Fort Collins branch of Union Bank & Trust is fairly new, having opened its doors in July 2025 in a leased space in the Opera Galleria in downtown Fort Collins. Union Bank & Trust, though, has a long tradition, originally founded as Farmer’s State Bank in Lincoln, Neb., in 1917 and purchased in 1965 by Jay Dunlap and continuing as a family business under the Muhleisen name.
Today, Union Bank & Trust has 36 branches across Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado with nearly $10 billion in assets on the banking side and $45 billion in trust assets under management. Sahd, who has 25 years of experience in the banking industry, was introduced to Union Bank & Trust in 2023 when the bank wanted to expand into Colorado, and a year later, he joined the leadership team. The bank had already made its expansion into Kansas in the mid-2000s acquiring two branches in Bonner Springs.
“We zeroed in on three areas similar to Lincoln in terms of size and the college-town feel, and Fort Collins rose to the top of the list,” Sahd said.
Initially, Union Trust and Bank wanted to build new or refurbish an existing building but couldn’t find a location, so the company decided to start with an office lease as opposed to a retail space.
“We were booking accounts and loans before the doors opened. We were able to start the momentum,” Sahd said.
The Fort Collins UBT branch doesn’t have a drive-through teller line, but clients can walk in for private banking and commercial banking and lending services.
“Retail banking, in general, is providing household accounts for thousands of households that are in proximity,” Sahd said. “The tellers don’t recognize them, and they don’t have deep relationships. They have to call an 800 number. It’s pretty impersonal.”
Alternatively, the Fort Collins UBT branch serves high net worth individuals and business owners in an old-school, small-town banking approach, and the six staff members on the team get to know each of the clients on a personal basis. Sahd’s clients, for example, all have his cell phone number and not just the office number, he said.
“They’re expecting to be taken care of very quickly with a high degree of service,” Sahd said. “Even though they can call UBT’s 1-800 number, we prefer they contact us directly and locally to better serve their needs.”
Currently, Union Bank & Trust has 356 accounts with $34 million in deposits, a high number for being open less than a year, Sahd said.
“Thirty-four million in less than a year is strong for a new bank, in my experience, with no acquisition,” Sahd said. “We’re on the high end of average of what would be expected, which is really meaningful.”
Eventually, the Fort Collins UBT branch will expand into retail banking space and increase its number of accounts—the hope is to have a retail location by the end of the year, Sahd said. “We will diversify when the retail branch opens,” Sahd said. “It depends on what locations become available.”
The Fort Collins UBT branch joined the Better Business Bureau Serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming in July 2025. “The bank has been involved with the BBB for a long time,” said Nathan Kimple, assistant vice-president and a private banker with the Fort Collins UBT branch. “It proved to be credible, because BBB has a vetting process, and it was important for us to join the BBB to gain that credibility.”
Kimple, Sahd and the rest of the staff at the Fort Collins UBT branch have personally seen the impact the BBB has on businesses and the local community, said Remi Berg, assistant vice-president and treasury management officer for the branch.
“We support them so we can make sure we support the businesses in our community,” Berg said. “The awareness they bring to business owners to make sure they’re successful is beneficial.”
The BBB helps with reputation management and resolving any customer complaints, plus provides educational resources and networking opportunities.
“BBB accreditation can increase trust and conversion rates with customers, and networking is an add-on,” Sahd said. “That trust, reputation and online visibility and credibility is the biggest thing.”
The Fort Collins UBT branch joined the BBB Foundation in November 2025 to show further support of the BBB. “We like the fact they accredit businesses in town, and we’re making sure we’re supporting that—businesses that have values and good leaders in the community,” Sahd said.
