I N T H E N E W S

Nicolet Bank CEO tells shareholders the lender

avoids ‘train wrecks’
Green Bay Press-Gazette May 6, 2009
Richard Ryman Text M.P. King Photography
Having avoided the banking industry’s “train wrecks” in
the past year, Nicolet Bankshares Inc. is poised to grow
during economic recovery, said Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer Bob Atwell.

Atwell told shareholders during the company’s annual

meeting at the Meyer Theatre in Green Bay that being
steady but unfashionable has allowed the bank to
weather the storm.

“The most important decisions were not made in 2008,

but in 2005 and 2006. We were the class nerd. We missed
all the industry disasters,” he said.

Those included sub-prime loans, high-risk lending Bob Atwell, right, Nicolet Bankshares Inc. chairman and chief executive officer, answers a
question from the audience during the bank’s annual shareholders meeting Tuesday at the
in the commercial and industrial sector, excessive Meyer Theatre in Green Bay. From left are Ann Lawson, vice president and chief financial
development-real estate lending, risky lending in the officer, and Mike Daniels, Nicolet National Bank president and chief operating officer.

investment portfolio, having too little liquidity and
commission-based employee compensation that
encouraged high-risk lending.
Mike Daniels, president and chief operating officer
of Nicolet National Bank, said the bank takes risks it
understands and has no risk in its investment portfolio.
He said it will continue to establish strong relationships
with customers.
“Character is and always will be the most important
(factor) because it’s people who pay you back,”
Daniels said.
Atwell said the first quarter, while not great, was
improved. The bank reported $276,000 in earnings, more
than all of last year, when it reported $189,000 in profit,
down from $4 million in 2007. It had net charge-offs of
$3.86 million in 2008.
million, and core deposits were up 23 percent, to
$571 million.
Atwell said 2008 was the most difficult year in banking
for many generations, but “we remain fundamentally
optimistic.”
Atwell said the bank is planning for two economic-
recovery scenarios. The most likely would see
government stimulus working as intended and the
economy making a gradual recovery. Less likely — he set
the odds at 30 percent — the economy lapses into credit-
driven stagflation, prompted by a collapse of the dollar
as global investors sell off, because they don’t believe the
U.S. government has the will to react in a responsible
fashion regarding deficits.
“It’s not a happy scenario, but it is a significant possibility
and merits our consideration,” he said.

Ann Lawson, vice president and chief financial officer, Atwell said the bank accepted U.S. Treasury investment
said total loans increased 8 percent in 2008, to $479 through the Capital Purchase Program, but he is

Page 1 of 2 Nicolet Bank CEO tells shareholders the lender avoids ‘train wrecks’ | Green Bay Press-Gazette May 6, 2009
 I N T H E N E W S

troubled that the federal government changed terms

of the deal after the fact and is abusing its authority. He
said they took the money because they believed in its
public purpose — to stimulate the credit markets — and
because it could help them grow the bank and protect
shareholder value.

At about the time they bank sold the Treasury $14.9

million in preferred stock, it also raised $9.5 million in
private investment.

The bank will continue to look for ways to grow, though

it has cooled to the idea of buying other banks outright
because of the difficulty in telling their true conditions.
He said a better way to grow might be through
purchasing strategically placed individual branches or by
acquiring distressed assets.

“This is what needs to happen (for economic recovery),”

he said of purchasing assets. “We are very interested. It
might be a better and more fruitful way to proceed.”

Re-elected directors were Atwell, Daniels, Daniel Ariens,

John Dykema, Gary Fairchild, Michael Felhofer, Andrew
Hetzel Jr., Donald Long Jr., Benjamin Meeuwsen, Susan
Merkatoris, Wade Micoley, Sandra Renard and Robert
Weyers.

This was the first annual meeting for Lawson, who joined
the bank earlier this year, succeeding Jacqui Engebos.

Page 2 of 3 Nicolet Bank CEO tells shareholders the lender avoids ‘train wrecks’ | Green Bay Press-Gazette May 6, 2009