Our History
1966
State Bank of Fargo is chartered
1968
Bank opens new location in Fargo, N.D.
1982
Richard Solberg is named president, steering bank’s growth starting with new Fargo metro locations
1992
Bank headquarters moves to Fargo’s 13th Avenue
2001
Over the next several years, bank begins expansion into Minnesota lakes area
2004
State Bank of Fargo, West Fargo and Moorhead merge with newly acquired Northern Capital Trust to form State Bank & Trust, including wealth management division
2008
Michael Solberg launches Pay It Forward program, giving employees money to donate to people and organizations in need
2012
Bank rebrands as Bell State Bank & Trust having acquired Minneapolis-based Bell Mortgage (founded in 1880) the previous year
2014
Michael Solberg is named CEO
2015
Bank purchases iconic building (now Bell Plaza) in Bloomington, Minn., and continues expansion in Twin Cities and beyond
2016
Name simplified to Bell Bank; Solberg and Snortland families create employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) to share stewardship in the company
2018
Bell Bank reaches more than $5 billion in assets, expands mortgage operations in Wisconsin and New Mexico, and announces its first full-service banking location in Arizona
2019
Bell acquires Warner & Company, a century-old insurance firm, adding Bell Insurance to our services, and opens mortgage offices in Florida, Tennessee and Missouri
2020 Bell opens mortgage offices in Kansas and announces additional full-service banks in Duluth, Minn., the Twin Cities region and the Phoenix metro; bank helps thousands of companies access small-business loans to help them during the coronavirus pandemic2021
Bell purchases 12-story building in downtown Fargo, with plans to fully remodel ‘Bell Tower’ as new corporate headquarters; Bell opens loan production office in Denver and surpasses $10 billion asset milestone and $18 million in Pay It Forward giving
2022
Bell is named to the Fortune® list of 100 Best Companies to Work For®; Bell opens mortgage servicing center in Owensboro, Ky., and begins construction on Bell Tower in Fargo; Pay It Forward surpasses $25 million in giving
