Midwest Business Solutions (MBS) is a Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) focused on providing underwriting and portfolio management services for commercial and agricultural loans.  Their members do business in the upper mid-western states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and parts of Montana, Minnesota, and Iowa.  The credit unions in these states hold over $35 billion of assets and provide a viable alternative to "Main Street America" businesses that have been overlooked by large Wall Street Banks.

Phil Love became the new President/CEO of Midwest Business Solutions last May. Now, he will be a weekly contributor to the Memo. Today, Phil takes the opportunity to introduce himself. You can watch for his helpful member business lending tips on Wednesdays in the Memo.

by Phil Love, President/CEO Midwest Business Solutions

Greetings! I am the new President/CEO of Midwest Business Solutions, Phil Love. I accepted the position in May of 2012 and have been working to put all of the pieces together from scratch to make up a viable financial company.

I was born and raised in Fulton, Missouri.  My hometown is notable because it is where Winston Churchill gave his famous “Iron Curtain” speech denoting the dangers of communism.  In Fulton, I took my first job in financial services while attending high school - as a part-time bank teller.  I then worked my way through Westminster College as a teller and branch manager for a local bank. 

After college, I went to work for a regional savings and loan in Mid-Missouri.  We did quite a bit of personal and residential business and even some commercial lending.  I was able to grow my branch from the smallest in the organization to the largest branch outside of the home office. We were very busy then, financing residential loans as interest rates were at record lows. 

The savings and loan that I worked for went from a mutually held association to a stock owned company, and was sold to Union Planters Bank (UPB).  I stayed with the company and gravitated toward commercial and agricultural lending.  I also earned my graduate degree from the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin while at UPB.  (UPB eventually sold to Regions Bank.) 

While I was working with the savings and loan, I met my wonderful wife, Angela, whom I have been married to for over 20 years now. We enjoy spending time with our three children. 

After nearly 15 years working with those financial organizations, I left Mid-Missouri and moved to Colorado, taking a commercial and agricultural lending position with Vectra Bank, the Zions Bancorporation affiliate in Colorado.  I was there for six and a half years and built the largest portfolio of any officer outside of the Denver metro area. 

While at Vectra, I became involved with the property exchange networking group on a state and national level.  I also earned the prestigious Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation in commercial real estate. 

In February, 2012, I received a call from a recruiter asking if I would be interested in leading a CUSO. I had no idea what a CUSO was at the time.  

As I met the different credit unions and people involved, the position intrigued me.  The ability to build a company from ground up and really make a difference in this area is exciting.  I do not want to just focus on making our credit union clients better in commercial or agricultural finance, I also want to assist them in becoming competent and trusted financial advisors to their members. Our goal at MBS is to support them in becoming a competitive force with the best commercial banks in their area.  We are here as a resource to credit unions in the upper Midwest, and we will add value to credit unions through our business services.

Please check out our updated website www.mwb-s.com

You can contact me at phil.love@mwb-s.com or by phone at (605) 718-5455.