GREAT NORTH BANK in Florence, Wis., has announced three new vice presidents and a new business development officer. From left are Lisa DeCaire, vice president and loan operations manager; Lisa Smith, vice president, deposit operations manager and deposit compliance officer; Thomas Wittkopf, bank president and CEO; Todd Kinart, business development officer; and Sara Ferguson, vice president, controller and information security officer.

FLORENCE, Wis. — Great North Bank has promoted three women to vice president and hired a new business development officer.

The announcements came at the end of the summer from President and CEO Thomas Wittkopf, and the bank’s board of directors has endorsed the promotions.

Sara Ferguson, a certified public accountant, is the bank’s controller and information security officer. As a vice president, she will continue her work on the management team and leading finance, ALCO, and information security committees. Originally from Iron Mountain, Ferguson previously worked as a senior audit associate for KPMG, LLP in Minneapolis before returning to the area in 2009 as an accountant at Anderson Tackman & Company. She came to Great North Bank in 2017.

New vice president Lisa DeCaire, loan operations manager, joined Great North Bank in 2017 as a credit analyst and assisted in implementing the organization’s credit department. She has since become the credit manager, loan compliance officer and manager of the bank’s lending department and staff.

Lisa Smith has been at Great North Bank since 2001, when it was State Bank of Florence before a re-branding and name change to Great North Bank in 2017. First hired as a teller, Smith has had numerous other roles and responsibilities throughout her career. She now is deposit operations manager, deposit compliance officer and a member of the bank’s management team and several committees.

Wittkopf says the promotions are part of great changes taking place at Great North Bank, including the addition of Todd Kinart as the bank’s business development officer.

Kinart is a 22-year veteran in the financial services industry and brings a strong finance and compliance background with strategic planning and recruiting experience. As business development officer and member of the bank’s management team, he will focus on the bank’s business development strategy.

Originally from Crivitz, Wis., Kinart began his career as a financial advisor with Appleton, Wis.-based SII Investments Inc, where he advanced to the firm’s executive management team, spending the past 12 years as the firm’s president and CEO. This role included recruiting and managing more than 600 independent financial advisors with an annual revenue stream of approximately $190 million and a home office staff of nearly 200 employees. When SII Investments was sold in 2018, he entered early retirement. He lives in North Venice, Florida, and returns to Wisconsin in the summer months.

Established in 1891, Great North Bank is a family-owned, independent community bank that serves Wisconsin, upper Michigan and beyond.