Dave Nelson, longtime Wells Fargo and Norwest executive, will leave his post as president of Wells Fargo, Rochester, Minn., to become chairman and CEO of West Bank, and president/CEO of West Bancorporation, Des Moines. The Des Moines Register has the story. Here is the bank’s announcement.

The Bank of North Dakota is getting a lot of attention, not just from the Associated Press, but from politicians in California, Florida, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon and Washington state who wonder whether state-owned banks might be good for their states.

While we’re on the subject of banks with unique ownership structures, Stan Dardis, longtime CEO of St. Paul-based Bremer Bank will retire next month. Here is a profile of Dardis and his successor Pat Donovan. A snippet from Dardis:

“We make our way not through Wall Street, but through Main Street. We do business in our local markets, not in Chicago or New York. Our business is to serve the local communities where we have banks. This approach has served us well during good times and bad.”