Contact: Media Representative 612-204-5261 Date: December 29, 1998 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Minneapolis Fed Announces Board of Directors Changes for 1999

MINNEAPOLIS—The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis announces the following changes to its board of directors, effective Jan.1, 1999.

David A. Koch, chairman, Graco, Inc., Plymouth, Minn., was reappointed to a one-year term as chairman by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

James J. Howard, chairman, president and CEO, Northern States Power Co., Minneapolis, Minn., was reappointed to a three-year term as Class C director and to a one-year term as deputy chairman by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

W.W. LaJoie, chairman and chief executive officer of Central Savings Bank, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., was elected by member banks to a three-year term as Class A director. LaJoie replaces Dale Emmel, president, First National Bank of Sauk Centre, Sauk Centre, Minn.

Jay F. Hoeschler, president and owner, Hoeschler Corp., La Crosse, Wis., was elected by member banks to a three-year term as Class B director. Hoeschler replaces Dennis W. Johnson, president, TMI Systems Design Corp., Dickinson, S.D.

Currently serving as directors are Lynn M. Hoghaug, president, Ramsey National Bank & Trust Co., Devils Lake, N.D.; Kathryn L. Ogren, owner, Bitterroot Motors, Missoula, Mont.; Bruce Parker, president, Norwest Bank Montana, N.A., Billings, Mont.; Rob L. Wheeler, vice president, Wheeler Manufacturing, Lemmon, S.D.; and Ronald N. Zwieg, president, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 653, Plymouth, Minn.

The Minneapolis Fed's nine-member board is grouped into three classes. Class A and B directors are elected by member banks. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C. appoints three Class C directors and designates one of its appointees as chairman and a second as deputy chairman. Three directors are bankers while the other six represent large corporations, small business, education, industry, agriculture or consumer interests.

The responsibilities of directors are broad, ranging from overseeing the general operations of the Reserve bank to reporting on district economic conditions. This information helps prepare the Reserve bank president for participation in Federal Open Market Committee meetings, where decisions are made about monetary policy.

As one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis contributes to a variety of Federal Reserve System functions, including operation of a nationwide payments system, distribution of the nation’s currency and coin, supervision and regulation of member banks and bank holding companies, and serving as a fiscal agent for the U.S. Treasury. Additionally, the president of the Minneapolis Fed serves as a member of the Federal Open Market Committee, the monetary policymaking arm of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors. Together with its branch in Helena, Mont., the Minneapolis Fed serves the Ninth Federal Reserve District, which includes Minnesota, Montana, North and South Dakota, 26 counties in northwestern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

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