Bill Sennholz doesn’t resemble the late Jimmy Stewart, who ran the fictional Bailey Bros. Building and Loan Association in the 1946 film classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Nor is the Forward Bank chain led by Sennholz in northern Wisconsin on the cusp of bankruptcy like George Bailey’s beleaguered lender.
In fact, it’s the opposite for Forward Bank and its 15 locations because – a bit like Stewart’s movie character – Sennholz and team understand that investing wisely in the future of small towns and rural communities can pay back over time.
“Our motto is moving our communities forward and we really do it. We’re putting our money where our mouths are,” Sennholz said in a recent interview.
The strategy for doing so is embodied in what Sennholz calls “three and a half points” that can keep small towns alive, even vibrant, as depopulation threatens. Surprisingly, creating more jobs isn’t among those points.
“Jobs are not the problem. There are lots of employers here who can and will offer jobs,” Sennholz said. “In every community we’re in, it’s much more about housing availability and affordability.”
Forward Bank helps directly by building residential projects, such as duplexes and other multi-family housing, and managing them in-house. A key is holding lot and construction costs to under $300,000 and making them available for rent or purchase, whichever comes first.
“We have the assets to withstand a (housing) project that doesn’t go as planned,” Sennholz said. “We would love to sell them. If we can’t sell them, we will operate them.”
An ideal size for single-family housing is three bedrooms and two bathrooms, he said, but there’s a shortage in many rural communities because retirees aren’t selling existing units. That limits housing choices for families with school-age children, which is compounded by a general lack of residential construction in that price range.
Even in small towns bordering on undeveloped land, there’s a shortage of buildable lots – broadly defined as access to water and sewer lines, electricity and paved streets. Without state tax incentives to spread improvement costs in advance, many small towns and villages can’t afford to speculate.
“There is a severe shortage of buildable lots,” Sennholz added. Communities such as Pittsville and Greenwood in the bank’s territory have gone so far as to offer free or very low-cost lots to attract more young families.
That leads to a second point on the bank’s rural prosperity list: Schools.
“There are declining enrollment trends in every community we serve. Most (school districts) would be happy to be just stable,” Sennholz said. Healthy schools are hubs for community activity and a point of pride to knit people together, he noted, especially when there are high-performing academic or athletic programs.
Point No. 3: Small communities need at least one grocery store. Sennholz said small, full-service stores are being run out of many towns by discount chains that don’t offer much beyond packaged foods.
“They’re killing mom-and-pop stores left and right,” he added. “One of the most important things we need is a source of fresh food and meats.”
Access to health care is “a half point” on Sennholz’s rural prosperity scale, mainly because digital health innovation can take distance out of the equation. Little more than a storefront is needed to provide primary care through an onsite nurse who can refer more serious cases to a parent hospital.
Enlightened self-interest can motivate smaller financial players such as Forward Bank to examine community stress factors and adopt strategies to keep people in place.
“We don’t want people forced to leave, on a daily basis, the community they’re in. We want to see these local service centers thrive,” Sennholz said.
He described how Forward opened a branch in Rib Lake, Wis. (population about 1,000) when a larger bank pulled up stakes. With lower overhead costs and attention to services the community needed, Forward made it work.
There are as many theories about rural resurgence as there are small towns. In north-central Wisconsin, Sennholz and his bank are focused on Main Street experience over theory.
