Glacier Bancorp Chief Executive Officer Michael Blodnick is retiring, but will remain on the job until the corporation names his successor.

Blodnick’s career with Glacier Bancorp, the parent company of Glacier Bank, has spanned 37 years, the last 16 of which he’s been president and CEO.

The board expects to hire his successor by mid-2015, and Blodnick will help train his replacement.

“We’re just beginning the process,” Blodnick said in a phone interview. “We know we need to be very thoughtful, and mindful of getting this right.”

Glacier Bancorp’s board has hired Spencer Stuart, an executive search firm with extensive experience in CEO transitions, to advise the board on potential internal and external candidates.

“We have a laundry list of what the right individual would look like,” Blodnick said. “But we know that they must be mindful of the community bank model that we have created.”

Blodnick, an Anaconda native, was originally hired as a teller with the company in 1978. He steadily rose up the bank’s ranks and was named senior vice president in 1986 and chief operations officer in 1992. He’s been president and CEO since 1998.

“It’s a great bank, and it has that reputation across the nation,” Blodnick said. “I was lucky to have the privilege of working here.”

Headquartered in Kalispell, Glacier Bancorp is a regional bank holding company providing commercial banking services in 79 communities in Montana, Idaho, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and Colorado.