By Jodi Schwan

American Bank & Trust has hit a growth spurt in Sioux Falls.

About 15 months after entering the market, the Wessington Springs-based bank has opened two branches and is moving into a downtown office.

“We’ve exceeded expectations,” Sioux Falls market president Doug Tribble said. “Our first year, we more than doubled our goal, and we’re off to a good start in our second year. It was a great response, and a lot of it was driven by our people. They’re out in the community, making calls and pounding the pavement. That’s been the key for us is contacts we have in the community already.”

The bank’s first location was in south Sioux Falls at 6216 S. Pinnacle Place.

Its second branch opened recently in a former Great Western Bank building at 41^st Street and Sycamore Avenue.

“It happened fast,” Tribble said. “We bought the building and took possession on April 1, renovated it and opened up May 1, so we put it together quickly.”

The grand opening is May 23. As a promotion, the bank plans to mail keys to 4,000 people who will come unlock a treasure chest to see if they win a prize.

This week bring more activity. A sign is going up announcing that American Bank & Trust is coming to River Centre downtown at 200 E. 10th St. That’s also a former Great Western space, as the bank moved into Home Federal’s downtown office after acquiring it.

“We’re doing a full makeover inside,” Tribble said.

The plan is to open in mid-June and add wealth management and an insurance agency.

“It will be awesome visibility for us,” Tribble said. “It’s really hard with our name being American Bank & Trust. People get us confused all the time. The best thing I’ve done is market our people and kind of connect the dots from our people to our bank.”

American Bank & Trust was chartered in 1892 in Alpena and has eight locations throughout central South Dakota.

The bank isn’t done expanding in Sioux Falls, either.

“We’ve been looking at property in the south-central part of the city,” Tribble said. “Ideally, we could open close to where we’re currently located. We’re going to plan to build something in the next 18 to 24 months, and we’re going to keep an eye open for something west of Interstate 29.”

After starting with four employees, the bank has grown to 25 people in Sioux Falls, including several corporate positions.

“So we’ve grown pretty quickly in the last year,” Tribble said. “It’s a great market, a great business community and business state. Even though there’s a lot of competition out there, there’s still a lot of opportunity.”