Through good times and bad, economic hardships and fruitful seasons, Glacier Bancorp, the parent company of Glacier Bank, has emerged as a top dog in the banking and finance industry. 

But how does one small-town bank rise to be one of the top 125 largest banks in the country, among 6,500 competitors? 

“Performance,” said Michael “Mick” Blodnick, president and chief executive officer of Glacier Bancorp. “I think if you perform like we’ve been able to perform, and do the things we’ve been able to do over many, many years, we’re going to continue to do well.” 

Glacier Bancorp recently acquired Community Bank in Ronan, marking the fourth acquisition in the past 20 months, adding to more than 25 acquisitions in the bank’s history. Glacier Bancorp is now spread over six states and employs more than 2,000 people. 

And all this came from a simple federal savings and loan institution that opened in Kalispell in 1955, with a humble $172,000 in deposits. Now, the bank has more than $8 billion in assets, and that initial institution has grown into a small empire.  

Blodnick points to several pivotal choices that allowed the banking corporation to grow as quickly and easily as it did. 

The first is the procedure they follow when acquiring banks. 

When looking to potentially acquire a bank, Glacier Bancorp takes many aspects into consideration, including the geography and type of bank. 

The big one, however, is studying the management team. 

“For us, it's almost always about the management team and the talent that resides in that bank,” Blodnick said. “Especially if we're going to allow that bank to stay as a separate entity.” 

Many times, Glacier Bancorp allows its acquired banks to remain as a separate banking division, and keep their previous management team and board of directors. According to Blodnick, unless the management team is planning to retire, or the bank is close geographically to another Glacier Bank location and can be consolidated, the acquisition is largely left untouched. The companies will consolidate data systems and operating procedures, but the management team and day-to-day activities will be kept in place.   

“We’ve brought a lot of great people on; we’ve brought a lot of great talent on, just by letting them do what they do best,” Blodnick said. “All these things have made us a better company. If a bank is doing well enough that we want to partner with them, they’re obviously doing something right already.” 

Throughout the years, this tactic has led to some criticism from stock analysts or other industry professionals, but Blodnick has maintained that its diversification is key to strong business. 

BLODNICK, WHO has been with the company for 37 years, is surprised by one thing in the industry right now — the number of banks that have approached Glacier in an effort to partner. 

“Prior to the downturn, it was always myself out there, trying to knock on doors to see if a bank is interested in partnering up with us,” Blodnick said. “What's interesting about the last two years is the number of banks that contact us now.” 

According to Blodnick, since the economic downturn in 2008, more banks are finding themselves buried under the burdens of compliance regulations, as well as a difficult interest rate environment. Small banks don’t have the resources to spread out costs and cover everything. The bank can either fold and close down, or look for a larger partner who does have those resources. 

“Because of that, we’re a very attractive partner,” Blodnick said. “We fold them into a small community market where they can still operate very similar to how they are operating already.” 

Glacier Bancorp completes about three in 10 acquisitions it attempts, Blodnick said, usually due to price, management or social issues. However, Glacier’s leadership team is always looking for its next move, and keeping options open. 

“We like this Rocky Mountain area we operate in,” Blodnick said. “We think there’s a lot more opportunity for us to continue to add banks, locations and people to the company.” 

On the flip side, Blodnick said there is always an option for Glacier itself to be acquired by a larger bank. However, he said, it’s not likely. Due to Glacier Bancorp’s exceptional performance over the years, it is not an easy target.  

Since the bank has never hit deep financial trouble or had internal issues, there has never been a reason to put the bank out for possible acquisition. 

Larger banks that would target Glacier for acquisition have their own issues to deal with after the economic crisis, Blodnick said. 

“It is always a possibility, but it’s not one I lose sleep over,” he said.  

A DEFINING MOMENT for the bank was the choice to refuse the Troubled Asset Relief Program from the government during the 2008 economic downturn. The government would have offered the bank $127 million in bailout money. 

At the time, many larger banks were having difficulty. However, according to Blodnick, 2008 was a great year for Glacier Bancorp. 

“We knew we had a lot of capital built into the company. Core earning space very good,” he said. “We knew even if we were going to have trouble, we could absorb those kinds of losses.”

The program also came with many restrictions Glacier was not comfortable with, including the government acting as a bank shareholder. 

Instead, Glacier Bancorp, a publicly traded company, decided to do a secondary market offering of its shares. The company already had considered the offering earlier in the year, and successfully completed it in November 2008. 

“That was one of the best moves we ever did,” Blodnick said. “Some banks absolutely needed TARP, but others took it and wished they didn't. We did well to not take it. We were able to maintain our dividend throughout the downturn, as one of a handful of banks that never altered or lowered, or did away with their dividend.” 

WHEN LOOKING toward the future, Blodnick said he sees a lot more industry consolidation on the horizon. 

“You can see it starting now,” he said. “In five or 10 years, we’re probably not going to have the 6,500-plus banks we have now.” 

For 2014, Blodnick believes the country is on track to have the most mergers and acquisitions for the last five years, and that over the next several years, that number is going to step up even more. 

“I really like our options in that kind of environment,” he said. “There are a lot of headwinds for regional banks, and we’ll continue to do what we’ve been doing.” 

Reporter Brianna Loper may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at bloper@dailyinterlake.com.