Midland States Bancorp announced that Fred Van Etten has joined Midland as President of the Company’s equipment finance business. Van Etten joins Midland from Scottrade Financial Services, Inc., where he served as President of Scottrade Bank Equipment Finance. Midland also announced that Heartland Business Credit, its equipment leasing subsidiary, will be rebranded as Midland Equipment Finance and operated as a division of Midland States Bank.
Leon J. Holschbach, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, said, “Since acquiring Heartland Business Credit as part of the Heartland Bank acquisition at the end of 2014, we have grown our leasing portfolio from approximately $115 million to more than $200 million today. Now we are ready to further expand our equipment financing business as we continue to manage the overall growth of our balance sheet. This expansion reflects our emphasis on the lending areas that generate the most attractive risk-adjusted returns.”
Midland also expects to further its equipment finance team through the addition of a group of equipment finance professionals that worked with Van Etten at Scottrade. Midland Equipment Finance will be headquartered in Clayton, Missouri.
Holschbach also said, “We are very pleased to welcome Fred and his group to Midland. Following the sale of Scottrade to TD Ameritrade, Fred and his team became available. Fred has a long track record of running highly productive equipment financing businesses. Not only will the size of our equipment financing team expand, but we will also expand our offerings to include loans, leases and hybrid products to better serve the needs of this market. And bringing our equipment financing operations more squarely into our banking footprint will allow our bankers to offer additional financing and leasing options to our business customers.”
Van Etten has more than 30 years of financial services industry experience. In 2012, Van Etten helped found Scottrade Bank Equipment Finance and served as President of that business until the sale of Scottrade to TD Ameritrade in September 2017. Prior to joining Scottrade, he held a number of other leadership positions in the equipment financing industry. He has received his M.B.A. from Pepperdine University, The George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management, and his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Arizona State University at the W.P. Carey School of Business.