The legacy Bremer Bank will leave behind in Minnesota goes beyond banking

Bremer Bank has been around for a long time, more than 80 years. During that time it has

maintained a goal of supporting local businesses and everyday people so that prosperity would

filter throughout the entire community.

“Our founder (Otto Bremer) believed if you were a bank helping individuals or businesses

thrive, then communities would thrive,” said Bremer Bank President and CEO Jeanne Crain.

Old National Bank announced in November that it will purchase Bremer Bank, which operates

through a network of 48 branches located across 43 cities and towns within Minnesota, in

addition to 22 offices across North Dakota and Wisconsin.

Since its founding, Bremer has invested in several programs designed to help people and

families who can use support. A sampling of the most recent efforts includes a partnership

started in 2017 between Bremer Bank and Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity called the Home

Loan Impact Fund which makes the dream of home ownership a reality for families in the Twin

Cities who might not otherwise qualify because of income.

“The program purchased $150 million in mortgages in the last six years resulting in 760 homes,”

Crain explained. “Those loans helped to double the number of people Habitat for Humanity was

able to serve.”

Bremer recognizes its partnerships are critical to reaching families. That’s why the organization

recently celebrated five years of working with United Way to help Minnesotans transitioning

from homelessness through its annual Bremer Home For Good campaign. During the event

employees work like an assembly line packing boxes filled with essentials like plates, silverware,

cleaning supplies, blankets and towels all beneath a note that reads, “We hope these items are

useful as you settle in. Welcome home!” Each kit is earmarked for a family in need, specifically,

those transitioning out of homelessness and into stable housing.

“When every individual has access to safe and reliable housing, our communities are stronger,”

Crain said. In its five years, the Bremer Home For Good initiative has reached 3,500 families and

individuals across the Upper Midwest. According to the Minnesota Homeless Study, 10,522

Minnesotans experienced homelessness in 2023, the second highest since the study started in 1991.

In 2019, Bremer Bank partnered with the city of St. Paul and Mayor Melvin Carter for a program

called CollegeBound St. Paul which provides every child born in the city with a savings account

and a $50 seed deposit. “Research shows jump starting a college savings account for a child

helps put them on a pathway to college,” Crain explained.

According to a study by the Institute for Higher Education Policy and Prosperity Now, children

with college savings between $1 and $499 are three times as likely to attend college and four

times as likely to graduate as those without any college savings.

Bremer Bank noticed another immediate need after the murder of George Floyd. “After the

riots, we took the opportunity to look at where we were not physically present,” Crain recalled.

“We noticed an opportunity to be more visible to a community we were trying to serve.” The

result is the Bremer Bank location at 2130 E. Lake Street in Minneapolis.

While the programs, partnerships, initiatives and behind-the-scenes work at Bremer Bank to

use its resources to benefit all Minnesotans is far and reaching, Crain says the goal has been

rather simple. “We have been an organization that pays attention to the needs of the

community. We were trying to make a difference.”