First Security Bank proudly awards scholarships to help local students further their education. Since it began in 1993, we have awarded 2,272 students $2,257,500.00 in scholarships through the program. The scholarships range in size from $500 to $2,500, and are available to high school seniors and first year college students.
L.A. Amundson has been the owner of First Security Bank since 1973 and offers the scholarships to students in 10 communities. Stop at any of our branches to find out more about the L.A. Amundson Scholarship program.
The following article was published in the November 2005 issue of The Financial Review :
Amundson makes giving his business
By Tony Telschow
Up until 1993 Lloyd Amundson, owner of four Midwest bank holding companies and First Security Bank locations in Minnesota , North Dakota and Montana , did what most conscientious community bankers do. He ran dependable businesses and supported his communities, donating funds for hockey arenas, swimming pools and other public projects.
"Peanuts" is how Amundson recently described those donations: "More in the $10,000 category - never any huge deals." But in 1993, Amundson and his wife Barbara stepped into the big leagues by endowing a scholarship fund with $5 million. They later added the L.A. and Barbara Amundson Charity Foundation for church and other donations, then they created the Amundson Foundation, a fund within the St. Paul, Minn.-based Minnesota Community Foundation. Amundson said there is "over a million in that now, and that's going to be a big foundation when I die."
'Blessed with luck'
Amundson said that he and Barbara decided to drive their community giving to new levels after "a serious discussion about where we were going. We had never spent any time on estate planning up 'til that time," he said. "I was 67 years old already. So we had a discussion saying ... we've been blessed with a lot of luck here. What are we going to do in return?"
It was by no means assured that a boy from Almora , Minn. , could have counted on such good fortune, to say nothing of the challenge in disbursing it. "We didn't even have electric lights or ... anything else until I was 13 years old," Amundson said. "I'm used to going through some fairly good hardships."
But Amundson was determined to take every opportunity that presented itself, and one of the most important was the G.I. Bill, which he earned by serving in the Navy Air Corps during World War II. "There was no chance, not one chance in a thousand, that I could've ever gone to college without the G.I. Bill," he said.
The Amundsons noticed that there was no longer a widely-known program like the G.I. Bill to help small-town Midwest residents continue their educations. So they formed the L.A. Amundson Scholarship fund for students in the eight communities where Amundson owns banks. To date more than $2.2 million have been given to students.
'Perpetuating' communities
A shift from federal to local funding is to Amundson's taste. Indeed, he decided to start giving away his wealth while he is living because he wanted to "make sure that my communities get this, rather than sending it to Uncle Sam."
The scholarship fund targets students who are likely to stay in their communities, keeping the business base strong: "In a little town like Benson, Minnesota, if a youngster there is a genius and wants to go out and do rocket science ... when he leaves Benson, he's never coming back. What we concentrate on perhaps more than anything is what I call the old trade schools ... where you go and you learn small engine repair or [to be a] police officer," Amundson said. "The odds are good that if [a student] graduates from small engine repair, he'll probably come back to Benson ... and it will perpetuate that little town."
Giving seems to perpetuate giving, too, Amundson said. When he first offered scholarships in Henning , Minn. , his were the only awards given. Last year more than 20 scholarships were awarded to students in Henning.
"We planted a seed," Amundson said. "It's gratifying to see that, because somebody else grabbed the bit and they're doing the same thing."
The Amundson fund at the Minnesota Community Foundation is also set aside for communities where Amundson-owned banks operate.
More to give
Amundson will be 80 next year, but he expects to keep working.
"There are all kinds of people ... who say, what are you doing? You don't need any more. Why are you pushing and pushing? It's just not my nature to go ... and play golf. I'll play golf when the work is done," he said.
It has been his habit to work long hours, in part because a mentor once told him that if he was willing to work an extra hour a day he would stand out and succeed, because most people prefer not to work late. Amundson took the advice and decided in the course of doing so that: "I enjoy my work ... I'm always enthused ... I'm not saying I run around like a giddy guy every day, because I have plenty of problems. But I love them. I just enjoy the challenge."
