2022 SEDC Lender of the Year


Peoples Bank named SEDC Lender of the Year

May 10, 2023

SEDC - Siouxland Economic Development Corporation logo

The Board of Directors of the Siouxland Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) is pleased to announce it has selected Peoples Bank as the SEDC Lender of the Year for 2022. This annual award is given to commercial lenders in the Siouxland area who have demonstrated a high regard for customer service and have successfully, consistently, and creatively utilized the SBA 504 Loan Program and SEDC Revolving Loan Fund Program (RLF) to further economic development in Siouxland.    

Dusty Small, Chairperson of the SEDC Board of Directors, commented, “The Lender of the Year award has been created to recognize outstanding performance by private lenders. The commercial lenders at Peoples Bank have proven to us many times they are valued small business advocates committed to economic development in Siouxland.” In 2022, SEDC and Peoples Bank cooperated in completing economic development projects totaling $9.2 million that have created or retained 114 jobs in the Siouxland area. This will be the third time in the 23-year history of this award that it has been presented to Peoples Bank.

SEDC would like to specifically recognize three lenders at Peoples Bank that most significantly utilized the SBA 504 loan program and SEDC Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) program. These lenders are Merlin Meyer for 3 projects with Wyhe’s Choice, Inc. d/b/a Dutchland Foods, Tim Matasovsky for Elk Creek Animal Hospital and 4Less Sales, LLC, and Brian Richter for VH Manufacturing, Inc. These projects totaled more than $9.2 million with Peoples Bank financing of $4.9 million and SEDC/SBA 504 financing of $3.9 million.  These projects also created and retained 114 jobs.   

SEDC Chairperson, Dusty Small, went on to say “Over the nearly 44-year history of SEDC and the SBA 504 program, Peoples Bank has worked cooperatively with SEDC to complete more than 55 SBA 504 & SEDC RLF projects that total more than $35.2 million and created or retained hundreds of jobs. Peoples Bank has also consistently utilized other SEDC and SBA lending programs to promote small business start-up and expansion in Siouxland. SEDC extends its congratulations to Peoples Bank, Merlin Meyer (Lester), Tim Matasovsky (Sioux City), and Brian Richter (Rock Valley) for the support they have shown to their business community. Peoples Bank is one of the great community banks we are fortunate to have in Northwest Iowa.  The Board and staff at SEDC look forward to continuing our long and mutually beneficial partnership with all the commercial lenders at Peoples Bank.”

Peoples Bank is a locally owned financial institution with a rich history dating back to 1945. Peoples Bank has ten bank locations in the communities of Rock Valley, Lester, Sioux Center, Akron, Sheldon, Hawarden, Hinton, & Sioux City, Iowa, and Jasper, Minnesota. Peoples Bank recently expanded to North Sioux City, South Dakota in November 2022.