The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis announced several appointments and designations to the Bank’s board of directors.
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System has designated Chris Hilger and Paul Williams as board chair and deputy chair, respectively. New members include Jay Debertin, president and CEO of CHS Inc., appointed by the Board of Governors to a three-year term as a Class C director, and Bill Keller, president and CEO of Independence Bank in Havre, Montana, appointed to a three-year term as a member of the Helena Branch Board of Directors. Current Helena Branch Board Chair Al Ekblad was re-appointed to a second three-year term as a branch director.
All designations and appointments are effective January 1, 2024.
Chair and deputy chair
Chris Hilger, president, CEO, and chair of Securian Financial, is designated chair of the board of directors for 2024. Hilger has served as a Class C director since 2020.
Paul Williams, president and CEO of Project for Pride in Living, is designated deputy chair of the board of directors for 2024. Williams is also a Class C director and has served on the board of directors since 2021.
New board members
Jay Debertin is president and CEO of CHS, a farmer-owned cooperative and agronomy, global energy, grains, and processing company. Debertin was named president and CEO in 2017; he has been with CHS since 1984. Debertin holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Debertin succeeds Class C Director and Board Chair Sri Zaheer, professor and dean emerita of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. Zaheer’s term ended on December 31, 2023.
The Class C group of directors is appointed by the Board of Governors to represent the public and includes Chris Hilger, board chair, and Paul Williams, deputy chair.
Bill Keller is president and CEO of Independence Bank. In 2021, Keller was named president and has been with the bank since 1997. Keller holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Carroll College in Helena, Montana.
Keller succeeds Helena Branch Director William Coffee, CEO and chairman of Stockman Financial Corporation and Stockman Bank of Montana. Coffee’s term ended on December 31, 2023. Keller was appointed to the Helena Branch Board position by the Minneapolis Bank’s board of directors.
About the Minneapolis Fed Board of Directors
Minneapolis Fed directors are selected to represent a cross section of the Ninth District economy, including consumers, industry, agriculture, the service sector, labor, and commercial banks of various sizes. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Board has nine members, with three Class A directors representing the member banks; Class B and C directors are selected to represent the public with “due but not exclusive consideration to the interests of agriculture, commerce, industry, services, labor, and consumers,” according to the Federal Reserve Act. The Class A and B directors are elected by member banks, and the Class C directors are appointed by the Board of Governors, which also designates the board's chair and deputy chair from among its three appointees.
The responsibilities of directors are broad, ranging from overseeing the general operations of the Minneapolis Fed to reporting on district economic conditions. This information helps prepare the Minneapolis Fed president for participation in Federal Open Market Committee meetings, where decisions are made about monetary policy.
About the Helena Branch Board of Directors
Each branch of a Federal Reserve Bank has its own board of directors. Located in Helena, Montana, the Minneapolis Fed’s only branch has a five-member board, with three members appointed by the Reserve Bank and two appointed by the Board of Governors. Its members share their perspectives on economic conditions with Bank leadership, and they also serve as liaisons between the Fed and their communities.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that, with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the Federal Reserve System, the nation’s central bank. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is responsible for the Ninth Federal Reserve District, which includes Montana, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis participates in setting national monetary policy, supervises numerous banking organizations, and provides a variety of payments services to financial institutions and the U.S. government.