St. Cloud bank is nation's top buyer of failed institutions
Business Ambar Espinoza · ·   1. Listen Story audio  Norm
Skalicky  Stearns Bank in St. Cloud has acquired five
institutions in the last year, more than any other buyer, making
it the nation's top buyer of failed banks.  Stearns Bank started
out as an agricultural bank nearly a century ago. CEO and
president Norm Skalicky bought the bank in 1964. More than 40
years later, Skalicky watched the housing bubble and saw nothing
but trouble.  As he watched other banks load up on risky loans,
he took the steps to get rid of loans he thought could become
toxic.  "We needed to make sure that our backyard was clean
enough so we could take on other deals," Skalicky said.
Skalicky started to unload bad loans in 2006, but realized that
wasn't enough. He thought he still had too much risk on the
books.  "The day after Labor Day in '07, I called our lenders
and everyone concerned with new loans and we just quit making
new loans except some that were totally commi