FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 16, 2021
Contact: Cindy Lyle
406-655-2431

Kalispell, MT – Joe Kola has joined Stockman Bank as market president of Stockman’s new bank scheduled for construction next year in Whitefish.  This new bank will be Stockman’s first in the Flathead Valley, and its 37^th full-service banking location in Montana. Kola will oversee Stockman’s entrance into the market and supervise all phases of staffing, lending, operations, planning, and development of the Flathead market. 

Kola brings 22 years of banking experience to the position, serving most recently as market president for a multi-state bank in Kalispell. He started his career on the teller line while attending the University of Montana’s School of Business Administration, earning a bachelor’s degree in finance followed by an MBA. After college, he worked as a credit analyst, then as a commercial relationship manager, a commercial group manager, and finally as a market president. He has worked in Missoula, Whitefish, Jackson, Wyoming, and most recently in Kalispell.  Along the way, he attended Pacific Coast Banking School, graduating with honors, and completed Leadership Wyoming (Class of 2015). A Kalispell native, he returned “home” in 2019 from Wyoming.  His wife, Tracy, is also a Kalispell native and their twin boys will attend Glacier High School as freshmen this fall. 

“We are excited to welcome Joe to the Stockman Bank family,” stated Jeremy Morgret, Chief of Branch Supervision for Stockman Bank. “His experience, and deep-rooted knowledge and understanding the Flathead Valley will be key for us as Stockman enters this new market.”

“While Stockman already has many customers in the Flathead Valley, we look forward to serving more of our neighbors throughout this beautiful region of our state,” added Bill Coffee, CEO of Stockman Bank. “We will soon have a temporary banking office for Joe and his future team and will begin construction of a new state-of-the-art banking facility in Whitefish next year. We are confident our unique brand of Montana community banking will bring more options and a higher level of customer service to the Flathead Valley.”

Kola is strongly committed to his community, which includes past volunteerism at the United Way, the Glacier Institute, Teton County Integrated Solid Waste & Recycling advisory board, the Teton County Library Foundation, and ad hoc teaching opportunities at Flathead Valley Community College and the University of Montana. He currently serves on the boards of the Flathead Education Foundation, the Flathead Valley Community College Foundation, Glacier AERO, and the Logan Health Foundation. He is involved with the Northwest Montana Association of Realtors’ Your Professional Network (YPN) and is a Kalispell Daybreak Rotarian.

Kola and his family enjoy an active Montana lifestyle, especially skiing where his boys compete on the Whitefish Mountain Resort Freestyle team. He’s climbed numerous area peaks, tabbed hundreds of miles in the mountains in search of solitude, fish, and high places, and has participated in a handful of endurance events, most recently the 2021 Coeur d’Alene Ironman triathlon.

Kola will officially begin work on August 1, 2021. He can be reached at 406-261-0887.

Stockman Bank is Montana’s largest, family-owned, community bank, with 36 full-service locations across the state. Founded in 1953, Stockman is uniquely focused on Montana, with comprehensive banking products and services, along with state-of-the-art online and mobile banking, wealth management and insurance services. To learn more visit www.stockmanbank.com.

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