There is an old saying, “when you want something done,
give it to a busy person.”
The person who can get things done in Waverly might just
possibly be the new president at Citizens State Bank of Waverly, Jim Vrchota.
He sits on the Maple Lake City Council and is president
of the chamber of commerce in Maple Lake, where he lives with his wife,
Tammi and four children.
He also holds a place on the board of directors of Minnesota
Business Finance, Inc.
Vrchota said he brings to his new job a lot of knowledge
in small business administration lending, as well as 17 years experience
in banking.
This means one of the things he knows is how to get the
best financing for businesses that want to expand or purchase new equipment
Healthy businesses make for good economic growth. Because
he is involved in the growth of small businesses, Vrchota was founding chairman
of the Economic Development Partnership of Wright County.
He feels a balanced picture is important for Waverly. There
is a need for industrial growth to revitalize the area, followed by housing
construction for the workers in those businesses.
In Maple Lake, he said, the council worked with the businesses
and added or saved about 150 jobs.
“Commercial growth and residential growth feed off
of each other,” said Vrchota.
He points with pride to the Maple Lake Liquor Store situation.
It seems the old building was in great disrepair and the
council chose to move the business to the north side of Highway 55, next
to the H & H Sport Shop.
The now, strictly off-sale business is in a newer building
and makes a lot more money for the city than the previous location.
But what to do with the old building?
The city found a buyer for the structure, sold it for $1,
and got it back on the tax rolls.
The new owner refurbished the old building and brought
in several businesses to fill office space. In addition, the new owner remodeled
and opened the old laundromat next door.
Vrchota said he is here to help the Waverly grow and flourish.
“It’s not altruistic. It just makes good business sense,” he said.
Sitting next to his growing collection of toy tractors,
Vrchota said he has a hands-on feel for the farm community, also.
He grew up in Richfield, but spent many hours on his grandfather’s
farm in South Dakota, baling hay and doing other farm work.
A University of Minnesota graduate in accounting and finance
with a masters degree, Vrchota is far removed from the family business.
His dad was an appliance serviceman, and Vrchota worked
with him for awhile.
“I thought I would always work with my dad, but he
steered me out of the refrigeration business,” said Vrchota.
Like most parents, his dad wanted more for his son, than
what he had himself.
“My first choice was engineering. I went to Winona
State to wrestle, but I transferred to the U of M,” he said.
Struggling in physics, he turned to accounting, which he
hated.
Explained Vrchota, “Strategy number one was to get
to like a job where I could make decent money.”
He took 30 and 36 credits in his senior year to transfer
into finance. He was looking to get in with a stockbroker, he said.
He got his chance with ITT Consumer Finance, the old Thorpe
Credit company.
From there, he made a series of job moves to give himself
more and varied experiences: Norwest, State Bank of New Prague, Bank of
Excelsior, Marquette Bank, and his last position at the Security State Bank
of Maple Lake.
He has gone from consumer lending to commercial lending,
becoming vice-president of the Maple Lake bank and finally president at
Citizens State Bank of Waverly.
“Each place I go, I learn something new. I can do
everything from loans on airplanes and large sailing vessels to small business
loans,” he said.
One of Vrchota’s most unusual loans was when one of his
clients sold a $1.5 million yacht he brought from the Orient. It had all
the fancy stuff, he said, gold inlaid faucets and a lot of teak wood.
So, if you need to expand your business, buy an airplane,
or need someone on your committee, you might call Vrchota. He is retiring
as president of the Maple Lake Chamber of Commerce in December, and may
have a few minutes of free time.
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