Over the Moon
Town Bank VP rolls with the tide.
Matt Fink, 43, was born on the day that Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. Now he’s taking his “giant steps for mankind” as a professional in business, and a leader in life.
As the father of two boys, ages 13 and 8, Fink is constantly on the run between his role as vice president of commercial banking at Town Bank and his role as dad/coach for youth football, basketball, and baseball in the Verona area. It’s a life that keeps him ticking and happily grounded.
Things are a bit different for kids these days. Fink, a Richland Center native, remembers earning his first paycheck as a newspaper delivery boy around the age of 11. “Every day, I’d wake up at 5:30 in the morning. We had five days off a year, and I really looked forward to those!” Still, he persevered for three years, and saved money to boot.
There was also the summer job, where he earned money de-tasseling corn for Hartung’s. It was hot, hard work, Fink recalled, something city kids weren’t necessarily prepared for. “If you weren’t good at it … well, you wanted to make it to the end of the year just to say you did.”
These days, Fink’s Harley-Davidson motorcycle sits idle in his garage most of the time. “Every weekend, every night, I’m coaching,” he said. But in the process, he’s gaining quality time with his sons. Last spring, the sports-focused family traveled to Brewers spring training in Phoenix.
Back at Town Bank, Fink swears he knew, even before starting high school, that he would one day become a commercial lender. “I just never thought of anything else,” he said. While his own dad and grandfather operated Fink & Fink, a Richland Center, Wis. law firm, an uncle, Dave Fink, was on the banking track.
“I just thought banking would give me a wide range of ideas to help me figure out what I wanted to do with my life,” he said, “but then it became my life.”
In 1992, Fink graduated from Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with a business degree in administrative management. He experienced two bank mergers: first, when Valley Bank merged with M&I, and later when Norwest Bank bought Wells Fargo. He then spent a couple of years at Wisconsin Community Bank (now Wisconsin Bank & Trust), where his uncle had become president. In 2004, Fink joined Town Bank.
Fink admits that some industries might still find money elusive, but for others, such as distributorships or manufacturing, there’s money to lend. “Unfortunately,” he said, “we can’t just flip a switch and make things the way they used to be.”
Overall, what Fink enjoys most is the variety of the job and the opportunity to develop relationships on a daily basis with businesspeople of all stripes. And while the economy has thrown plenty of curveballs, he’s seeing companies emerging smarter and stronger.
It’s all about riding the tide.
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