Charter of record

A charter older than the tractor.

Security Bank's original charter was established in Manchester, Minnesota in 1906, when it was titled the Manchester State Bank. It has been in Albert Lea since 1946.

The record

In order, with dates.

Every entry is drawn from the bank's own history. Nothing here is rounded up.

The site itself

The ground the Albert Lea bank stands on has been in commercial use since 1908. Before Security Bank there was the Northwestern Tanning Company, the Bagan & Company Creamery Store, Dahl's Grocery, and the Northside State Bank.

  1. 1906

    Chartered in Manchester, Minnesota

    Under the name Manchester State Bank.

  2. 1945

    Sold to brothers Art and Ed Lund

    The family that moved it to Albert Lea.

  3. 1946

    The Lund brothers moved the bank

    To the growing north side of Albert Lea, on Bridge Avenue, where it still stands. It had been fourteen years since a bank operated on that side of town.

  4. 1960s

    Emmons joined

    The second town, acquired in the late 1960s.

  5. 1976

    An auto bank was added

    At the Albert Lea office.

  6. 1981

    A larger facility was built

    With three times the ground floor of the old one. The grand opening ran on the 20th and 21st of June.

  7. 2001

    The 95th birthday

    Marked with entertainment and lunch for the community.

  8. 2006

    The charter turned 100

    The same year Albert Lea turned 150. In the same year the bank became employee owned.

  9. 2016

    Alden joined

    The third town.

Ownership

In 2006 there were four banks like this in the country. We were one of them.

Security Bank Minnesota became an ESOP, an employee owned company, in 2006. At that time there was only one other employee owned bank in Minnesota, and only two others in the nation.

It is not a slogan about service. It is a fact about who owns the business. The person reviewing your file is not passing it up a chain to a stranger with a target. They are an owner of the bank making the loan, and they live here.

In their words, then

We are your neighbours, friends and family members. Like you, we share a commitment to the communities we serve.

And now

Whether you are a personal or a business banking customer, we try hard to serve your needs, because your success is our success.

Three towns

Albert Lea, Alden, Emmons.

Three lobbies inside about twenty miles of each other, in Freeborn County. Small enough that the person who answers knows which section you farm.

Hours, ATMs and directions
The Security Bank Minnesota building on Bridge Avenue in Albert Lea, a low brick building with a flagpole
Albert Lea · since 1946
The Security Bank Minnesota branch on North Broadway in Alden, Minnesota
Alden · since 2016
The Security Bank Minnesota branch in Emmons, a brick corner storefront on Main Street
Emmons · since the late 1960s

Start here

A hundred and twenty years is a long reference list.

If your neighbour banks here, ask them. Then call the branch nearest your ground and talk to a person about what you need.