Contact: Media Representative 612-204-5261 Date: December 22, 1999 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Minneapolis Fed Announces
Board of Director Changes for 2000

MINNEAPOLIS—The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis announces the following changes to its board of directors, effective Jan. 1, 2000.

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

Ronald N. Zwieg, president, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 653, Plymouth, Minn., was appointed to a one-year term as deputy chairman by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Roger N. Berglund, chairman, Dakota Western Bank, Bowman, N.D., was elected by member banks to a three-year term as Class A director, replacing Lynn M. Hoghaug, president, Ramsey National Bank & Trust Co., Devil's Lake, N.D.

Rob L. Wheeler, vice president, Wheeler Manufacturing, Lemmon, S.D., was re-elected by member banks to a three-year term as Class B director.

Linda Hall Whitman, president, Ceridian Performance Partners, Minneapolis, Minn., was named a Class C director by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Currently serving as directors are W.W. LaJoie, chairman and chief executive officer, Central Savings Bank, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich; Kathryn L. Ogren, owner, Bitterroot Motors, Missoula, Mont.; Bruce Parker, president, Norwest Bank Montana, N.A., Billings, Mont.; and Jay F. Hoeschler, president and owner, Hoeschler Corp., La Crosse, Wis.

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 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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