Choice Bank completes investment period

Organizers hope to open by late July

The organizers of Choice Bank didn't raise the $14.8 million they needed to launch Oshkosh's second independent bank.

They raised $21.6 million.

Choice Bank President Keith Pollnow said the bank, still in organization stages, reached its maximum investment offering of $18 million on May 31, but oversubscribed investors by $3.6 million. Shareholders who contributed the first $18 million raised must decide whether to amend the bank’s bylaws to allow the over-subscribers to become shareholders during the initial shareholder meeting, tentatively scheduled for July 11.

Pollnow said he was pleased with the large amount of capital raised.

"It appears to us the closest to us is a bank that started last summer in Pewaukee (Foundations Bank) and they raised about $19 million," Pollnow said.

The bank’s headquarters at Witzel Avenue and Westhaven Drive should be completed by mid- to late-July, he said.

"It's getting pretty darned exciting," he said.

With its capital in place, Pollnow said the bank looks to open its doors for business following the initial shareholders meeting and a pre-opening examination conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., or FDIC.

"We're a little dependent on those regulators," Pollnow said. "We anticipate within a few weeks of the first meeting of shareholders that the bank will be able to commence operations after some final regulator inspections."

Pollnow attributed the rapid investment in Choice Bank and its overall success in securing the initial capital, to the strong success of Oshkosh’s first independently owned bank, West Pointe Bank & Trust.

"Individuals that did not have an opportunity to be a part of West Pointe's initial investment a decade ago did not want to miss this opportunity," he said. "Because of how well West Pointe has done, people feel they need to get into this. That's the honest truth."