In September 2023, my family and I had the opportunity to move to Arizona, where my wife’s parents live and we visit frequently.

I have lived in South Dakota my entire life and wanted to try something new and different.

The goal here was to gain perspective and prevent any regrets later in life. My wife is adventurous and loves the sun, so we jumped when the opportunity presented itself.

I took a lending role with a farm credit association (not ideal, I know) in Tempe, Arizona.

I learned quickly what I had always suspected to be true: there is nothing that adequately compares to a local, family-owned bank like First National Bank.

While in Arizona, I maintained steady contact with Brian and the team to stay up to date with how the ag department was doing at FNB, as well as to be sure that if the time came to move home, it would be a smooth transition back into the team.

We also had our second daughter during this time. We now have Elle, who is 8, and Blair, who is 1.

I am outnumbered 3-to-1 in the house, and the girls all loved the heat of Arizona. I spent most of my time melting.

We did have the opportunity to do some traveling, and we enjoyed several pool days and extra time with my in-laws.

While the Arizona weather is truly fantastic for at least six or seven months out of the year, we realized that what we really missed were our people.

We have an abundance of friends and family here in South Dakota, and our daughters have tons of friends to play and grow up with.

That small something that was missing became what really lead us to wanting to be back home.

I personally was also missing the autonomy and culture of FNB. The culture as a whole is fantastic, but I especially missed the team mentality and approach that we have on the First National Ag Team.

Knowing not just my customers, but our entire customer base, is not something that every bank does, especially a very large farm credit association like I was at.

We’re home, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to be back with FNB.

Don’t hesitate to reach out at (605) 359-8102 if there is anything you would like to chat about.