Waukesha-based InvestorsBank has added two prominent commercial bankers to its leadership team in the last two months. Timothy Schadeberg, former market president with Irwin Union Bank, and Gary Szpara, a former commercial lender with North Shore Bank, have been hired to be InvestorsBank’s new market president and senior vice president of commercial real estate, respectively. Schadeberg started with the bank on April 1. Szpara’s first day was May 1. The hiring of Schadeberg and Szpara will ultimately be parts of a succession plan for George Schonath, president and owner of the family-owned bank. "I’ve thought about it for the last two to three years that I need to prepare for the future," Schonath said. "I need to build a management team to succeed me." InvestorsBank at W239 N1700 Busse Road serves commercial clients in Waukesha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee and Washington counties from one location.
The bank’s focus is business and commercial real estate banking, and it is not interested in retail, private banking or wealth management, Schonath said. "Our core business is commercial real estate investing and business banking, and we will operate in that direction," he said. "We’re not going to run off into the ditch. We incur expenses to serve our customers and not to serve someone else’s (customers)."
The bank was founded in 1997 by Schonath, who has grown it to about $300 million in assets and 200 to 250 business customers. Because the bank is entirely owned by Schonath and his family, it can make fast decisions on business and commercial real estate loans, Szpara said. "There’s a lot less paperwork and red tape," he said. "If you’re my client, I can look at (your financials) and say that this is something that the bank wants to do. We’re driven by customer service and quick responses." Both Schadeberg and Szpara will help InvestorsBank achieve its goal of doubling its assets within five years, Schonath said. "I see Gary and Tim growing the bank, expanding our reach to customers," he said. "(Bringing in) two experienced leaders like Gary and Tim – without me, it allows the bank to continue." Because InvestorsBank is focused on commercial and commercial real estate banking, achieving its growth goals is easier than with a bank with a broader focus, Schadeberg said.
"What sold me is that this bank knows what it is and what it wants to be," Schadeberg said. "It’s a business bank and it’s entrepreneurial-driven. It’s a family-owned business, and it’s run like one. There are no egos in this building. I did as much digging as I could, and there’s no dirt out there on George." "There’s a sense of direction – where the bank has been, where it is and where it wants to go and how it’s going to get there," Szpara said. "I like knowing what the goals are. And Tim and I have a real clear direction of that." For more information, visit www.investorsbank.com.
