Steve Yahnke, vice president and chief credit officer, The Equitable Bank
Name: Steve Yahnke
Title: Vice President, Chief Credit Officer
Company: The Equitable Bank
City of Residence: Greenfield
Family: Wife, Lisa and children Emily, 12, and Nathan, 9
What’s new at your company this year? "The business plan for The Equitable Bank in 2009 and beyond will focus on diversifying; including commercial lending and cash management while continuing to remain a leader in owner and non-owner occupied residential lending."
What was the best investment/client/project you’ve been involved with? "Just last year (prior to the credit crunch), I closed on a $25 million capital raise for a client that provided them with the capital necessary to refinance their existing debt, make a strategic acquisition of their top competitor in the marketplace and provide them with a new working capital line of credit. To refinance their existing debt, we implemented a 10 year fixed rate interest rate swap that will save them a substantial amount of money over the life of the loan."
What was the funniest or most interesting moment of your career? "I worked with a client that was connected to the EAA in Oshkosh. He knew some former military pilots that owned their own planes and still fly together today for fun. A group of us were asked if we wanted to go up and fly for about an hour in L39 fighter jets. The pilot first chose me because he thought I could handle the ride based on my ‘tough’ appearance. Little did he know that I was afraid of heights and occasionally got motion sickness. After about 30 minutes in the air we had to turn around and land the plane. At the end of the day, I didn’t ‘toss my cookies.’"
