April 4, 2022

First International Bank & Trust is offering a new look at the extensive renovation happening at its new downtown location.

The North Dakota-based bank bought the property on the southwest corner of 14th Street and Minnesota Avenue from First Premier Bank, which moved across the street.

“We have some beautiful branches that are branches but also community centers in the markets that we’re in, and that’s what we trying to come with in Sioux Falls,” said Jason Appel, a longtime leader in the Sioux Falls banking community who joined FIBT as community president.

Appel and his business banking team are working out of the second floor of the downtown building while the first floor is being gutted down to the walls.

Then, they’ll transition downstairs while upstairs is renovated.

“It’s important to the family that we deliver the product that looks like this rendering,” Appel said. “We’re going through final interior design plans to help bring this vision to reality.”

The plan is to bring in more light and create a modern work environment, he said.

“Part of the culture is having beautiful bank space where people want to come work every day, where they can be comfortable and where customers want to spend time and get to know us better,” Appel said. “It will be bright and modern and a different take on where it was in the past.”

There will be flexible space built into it, including large training rooms and a space with community events, classes or team building in mind, he continued.

“We’re looking at late summer, early fall,” for completion, he added. “We’re coming to Sioux Falls with a long-term approach and looking at this building with a long-term approach.”

He anticipates the bank could have up to 50 Sioux Falls-based employees in the next year.

“We’re fortunate the team that’s starting to assemble is an amazing team,” Appel said. “I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

The branch at 4930 S. Western Ave. is full, with 35 people including a retail banking team and a mortgage team.

“The long-term plan is we’ll get open with retail banking, mortgage services and business banking and begin to add in wealth management, insurance, trust services and things like that over the course of hopefully the next 12 to 18 months,” Appel said.

After the downtown location is done, attention will shift to land the bank owns on the northwest corner of 69th Street and Minnesota Avenue. That project likely will involve a multitenant building, with the bank taking some of the space but leaving room for other retailers, Appel said.

“So we’ll move forward with something significant at that corner, and in the meantime we’ll put our eyes out for where we want to be in other quadrants of the city,” he said.

First International Bank & Trust is owned by Watford City Bancshares Inc., which is owned by the Stenehjem family. It has been in business since 1910 and operates 32 branch locations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Arizona.

The business also has a credit card division and a payment processing division, which both could evolve in Sioux Falls, Appel added.

“I think we’ll see significant growth, and you’ll see our flag in multiple areas of Sioux Falls over the next decade,” he said. “We’re just getting started here. There’s a lot to come.”